THE 

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MPEROR 



CH3RISMAN GAUSS 







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THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

AS SHOWN 
IN HIS PUBLIC UTTERANCES 



BY 

CHRISTIAN GAUSS 

PROFESSOR OF MODERN LANGUAGES, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



NEW YORK 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

1915 






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Copyright, 1915, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



Published February, 1915 




FEB 25 1915 
&CI.A391883 



PREFACE 

Unlike his grandfather, who shielded himself 
behind his Chancellor, the present Emperor has 
always insisted upon making himself the storm- 
centre of the debates in his Reichstag and among 
his people. He has played with many, if not all, 
of his cards upon the table. In accordance with 
this policy he has gone through his country from 
end to end and into foreign lands, everywhere 
announcing his policies and his views on every 
possible subject of interest or controversy. Up 
to 1905 he had made upward of five hundred and 
seventy speeches, and since that time has made 
almost as many more. It was manifestly impos- 
sible to give all of these speeches, and it was also 
thought unfair to give merely extracts which 
might fail to represent the spirit of the entire 
pronouncement. They are all printed, therefore, 
in the completest form available. Particular 
speeches have often been reported to the press 
in widely differing versions. In all cases only 
those speeches are here presented which have re- 
ceived official or semiofficial sanction. The text 



PREFACE 

followed for pronouncements made before 191 3, 
with the one exception of the Daily Telegraph 
interview, October 29, 1908, has always been 
that of the recognized and standard edition in 
four volumes, edited by J. Penzler and published 
in the Reclam Universal-Bibliothek. Now and 
then only portions of certain addresses appear 
to have been reported, and on a few occasions 
parts of speeches are given directly and other 
parts are merely summarized. In all such cases 
the speech is translated from the form sanctioned 
in the official version. In no case has any change 
been made. Where significant differences exist 
in the versions of addresses as given officially and 
unofficially, the official version is in every instance 
printed first. It has been the aim to present 
faithfully the language and spirit of the speaker, 
and his phraseology and emphasis have been re- 
produced as closely as was at all consistent with 
fair English usage. The speeches have been 
chosen to represent in due proportion his many 
interests, and range therefore from agriculture 
and art to Biblical criticism, national and inter- 
national politics. 

The Emperor has, of course, not given titles to 
his speeches, and the headings have been as- 
signed by the compiler. It has been his aim to 
explain the circumstances under which each ad- 

vi 



PREFACE 

dress was delivered and to make plain the ref- 
erences to events embodied therein. Questions 
which have had a continuous interest, or which 
have had some lasting effect on Germany's policy, 
such as the attitude toward Alsace-Lorraine, the 
Social Democratic party, the retirement of Bis- 
marck, the development of the navy, the Morocco 
question, have been treated at greater length on 
the first fitting occasion. For the introductions, 
therefore, the compiler assumes responsibility. In 
preparing them he has had recourse to many in- 
cidental sources of information, and in many cases 
the true inwardness of certain situations is still 
as much a matter of controversy as the causes of 
the present war. For his facts generally, he has 
followed where possible, besides such incidental 
and contemporary sources, Bruno Gebhardt's 
"Handbuch der Deutschen Geschichte ,, (1913), 
the "Cambridge Modern History — The Latest 
Age," volume XII (1910), and the volumes of the 
"Statesman's Yearbook." In addition, for infor- 
mation concerning the internal development of 
Germany he has consulted and drawn upon the 
literature of this subject which has appeared in 
the last decade, but is more particularly indebted 
to Doctor Paul Liman's "Der Kaiser," Dawson's 
"The Evolution of Modern Germany," Barker's 
"Modern Germany," Price Collier's "Germany 



PREFACE 

and the Germans," Forbes's "William of Ger- 
many," Gibbons's "The New Map of Europe," 
and the " Reichsgesetzblatt." 

As the Emperor has spoken upon almost every 
phase of German political life, with the editorial 
introductions which aim to set forth briefly the 
occasion and causes of each address, it is hoped 
that altogether the volume will offer a fairly ac- 
curate picture of the trend of German affairs for 
the last twenty-five years. 

For help in the preparation of this volume, the 
writer is much indebted to his wife, whose assist- 
ance has amounted to collaboration. 



Princeton, N. J. 
December 20, 19 14. 



vin 



CONTENTS 



Preface 



PAGE 



V 



I 

The Hohenzollern Tradition i 

II 

Preliminaries 25 

June 15, 1888— October 30, 1889. 

The First Official Act of the Emperor .... 25 
Schloss Friedrichskron, June 15, 1888. 

To My People 28 

Potsdam, June 18, 1888. 

First Declaration of Policy 31 

Berlin, June 25, 1888. 

Opening of the Reichstag 39 

November 22, 1888. 

The Emperor and the Striking Miners 45 

May 14, 1889. 

Visit of the King of Italy 47 

Berlin, May 22, 1889. 

The English Fleet and the German Army . . *. . 48 

Sandown Bay, August 5, 1889. 
ix 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



The English Army 49 

Aldershot, August 7, 1889. 

The Czar at Berlin 50 

Berlin, October II, 1889. 

On Board an English Flag-Ship 51 

The Piraeus, October 30, 1889. 

Ill 

After Bismarck 53 

May 6, 1890 — June 21, 1895. 

Opening of the Reichstag . . ; 53 

Berlin, May 6, 1890. 

Review of the Ninth Army Corps 60 

Flensburg, September 4, 1890. 

Accidents with Agricultural Machinery 62 

Berlin, November II, 1890. 

Alsace-Lorraine 66 

Berlin, March 14, 1891. 

Swearing in the Recruits 72 

Potsdam, November 23, 1891. 

The Emperor's First Army Bill 75 

Berlin, July 4, 1893. 

Arrival in Metz 80 

Metz, September 3, 1893. 

Dedication of Flags 81 

Berlin, October 18, 1894. 

Navy Recruits 84 

Kiel, December 3, 1894. 

x 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Christening of a Cruiser 86 

Kiel, March 26, 1895. 

Visit to Bismarck 87 

Friedrichsruh, March 26, 1895. 

Opening of the Emperor William Canal .... 91 

Kiel, June 21, 1895. 

IV 

The Beginning of World Politics 95 

June 16, 1896 — March 22, 1905. 

The Beginning of World Politics 95 

Berlin, June 16, 1896. 

To the Recruits for the Navy 103 

Wilhelmshaven, February 21, 1896. 

A Toast to the Russian Emperor and Empress . . 104 

St. Petersburg, August 8, 1897. 

The Army Tradition 106 

Coblentz, August 30, 1897. 

Toast to the Italian King and Queen • 109 

Homburg, September 4, 1897. 

Address at a Dedication of Flags Ill 

Berlin, October 18, 1897. 

On Administering the Oath to the Recruits . . . 113 

Berlin, November 18, 1897. 

The Chinese Situation and the Mailed Fist ... 116 
December 15, 1897. 

Address to the Regiments of the Body-Guard . 121 

Potsdam, June 16, 1898. 
xi 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

On the Death of Prince Bismarck 123 

Friedrichsruh, August 2, 1898. 

"Our Future Lies Upon the Water" 126 

Stettin, September 23, 1898. 

The Journey to the Holy Land 127 

Bethlehem, October 30, 1898. 

Dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer . . . 132 

Jerusalem, October 31, 1898. 

By Divine Right 135 

Brandenburg, February 3, 1899. 

The Hague Conference 141 

Wiesbaden, May 18, 1899. 

The Housing of Laborers 143 

Early June, 1899. 

French Heroism at St. Privat 143 

The Battle-field of St. Privat, August 18, 1899. 



V 

The Greater Navy 147 

"Bitterly We Need a Powerful German Fleet" . . 150 
Hamburg, October 18, 1899. 

On the Threshold of the New Century 154 

Berlin, January 1, 1900. 

New Boundary Posts 157 

Berlin, February 13, 1900. 

Seaports and Cannon 159 

Lubeck, June 16, 1900. 

xii 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Ocean Knocks at Our Door 160 

Kiel, July 3, 1900. 

Open the Way for Culture 163 

Bremen, July 27, 1900. 

Civis Romanus Sum 167 

Imperial Limes Museum, Saalburg, October 11, 1900. 

Cabinet Order to the Prussian Army 169 

January, 1901. 

Dedication of the Barracks of the Alexander Regiment 171 
March 28, 1901. 

To the Students at Bonn 174 

April 24, 1901. 

A Place in the Sun 180 

Hamburg, June 18, 1901. 

The Great Elector 184 

Kiel, June 20, 1901. 

Entrance of Prince Eitel Friedrich into the Army . 189 
July 7, 1901. 

True Art 191 

Berlin, December 18, 1901. 

Monument to General von Rosenberg 201 

April 20, 1902. 

The Old Order Changeth 203 

Aix, June 19, 1902. 

Alfred Krupp and the Socialists 209 

November 26, 1902. 

The Working Man Once More 213 

Breslau, December 5, 1902. 
xiii 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Scholarship and Religion 216 

Berlin, February 15, 1903. 

Frederick the Great and His Army 225 

Doberitz, May 29, 1903. 

The Future of Germany 227 

Hamburg, June 20, 1903. 

The Reasons for Japan's Victory 232 

March 9, 1905. 

The Salt of the Earth 233 

Bremen, March 22, 1905. 



VI 

On the Eve of Morocco 240 

March 31, 1905 — November 12, 1906. 

The Morocco Question 240 

Tangiers, March 31, 1905. 

The Great Ally 242 

September 8, 1906. 

Optimism and Literature 247 

Munich, November 12, 1906. 

Twenty-Five Years of Labor Legislation .... 253 

November 17, 1896. 



VII 

The Crisis of 1907 256 

February 5, 1907— October 18, 191 1. 

Imperialism versus Social Democracy 256 

Berlin, February 5, 1907. 
xiv 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Necessity of Faith 259 

Miinster, August 31, 1907. 

English Journalists 264 

London, November 16, 1907. 

Alsace-Lorraine 265 

Strasburg, August 30, 1908. 

The Daily Telegraph Interview 267 

October 28, 1908. 

The Emperor and Count Zeppelin 273 

Manzell, November 10, 1908. 

Regatta at Hamburg 274 

Hamburg, June 22, 1909. 

Review of the Fourteenth Army Corps 278 

Karlsruhe, September n, 1909. 

Emperor by Divine Right 279 

Konigsberg, August 25, 1910. 

The Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding of the 
University of Berlin 285 

Berlin, October II, 1910. 

The Emperor in Brussels 290 

October 27, 19 10. 

Alcohol and the Schools 292 

Cassel, August 19, 191 1. 

International Competition 295 

Hamburg, August 27, 191 1. 

Imperial Glories 299 

Aix, October 18, 191 1. 

xv 



CONTENTS 
VIII 

PAGE 

Last Months of Peace 303 

February 7, 1912— June 23, 1914. 

Opening of the Reichstag 303 

Berlin, February 7, 1912. 

Brandenburg Once Again 307 

May 30, 1912. 

Hauling Down the Flag 313 

Hamburg, June 18, 191 2. 

Accident to a Zeppelin 316 

Bonn, October 17, 1913. 

We Germans Fear God, Nothing Else 318 

Hamburg, June 23, 1914. 



IX 

At the Outbreak of the War 323 

Forcing the Sword into His Hand ...... 323 

Berlin, July 31, 1914. 

An End of Parties 324 

Berlin, August 1, 1914. 

Opening of the Reichstag 324 

Berlin, August 4, 19 14. 

To the Army and Navy 327 

Berlin, August 6, 1914. 

Proclamation to the German People 328 

Berlin, August 6, 1914. 



xvi 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

William II, German Emperor Frontispiece 



FACING PAGE 



The Emperor in the Year of His Coronation, 1888 

(Age 29) 26 



Our Future Lies upon the Water." The Emperor 

on Shipboard in the Autumn of 1898 . . . 126 



The Emperor in 1900 168 



I 

THE HOHENZOLLERN 
TRADITION 

Ernest Renan, the author of that once heret- 
ical "Life of Jesus," was by temperament unen- 
thusiastic and had further schooled himself to 
look upon all human events with high uncon- 
cern. The great sceptic had been born in 1823; 
he was therefore sixty-five at the time of the ac- 
cession of William II, and his declining health, in 
Horatian phrase, refused to allow him to enter 
upon any long hope. In looking forward to his 
inevitable end one thing, he said, afflicted him. 
He regretted only that he was not to see, in its 
later and more decisive phases, the unfolding of 
the multiform personality of the new German 
Emperor. To him it was an intellectual puzzle, 
more intricate and more interesting than any he 
had encountered in the many cycles of the history 
of the Hebrews or in the complicated schisms of 
the church. In the early years of his reign the 
youthful Emperor was regarded with much in- 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

terest and some concern by his contemporaries 
generally. He was the chameleon among the 
royal figures of Europe. One day he receives the 
Czar at Berlin and proclaims peace to the world. 
A few weeks later he visits the Sultan at Constan- 
tinople, and shortly thereafter he announces to 
his loyal Brandenburgers that he will lead them 
on to greater things. What did he mean ? Now 
he is a soldier, jesting with his officers; and, with 
the rising of another sun, in workman's garb, with 
the axe upon his shoulder, he goes forth as wood- 
man or laborer on his own estates. At home he 
was regarded as Benjamin Constant regarded 
Madame de Stael. He was the "bel orage" the 
beautiful storm which had come upon Europe in 
the dull and piping times of peace of the last 
decades of the nineteenth century. He cleared 
the air of Continental politics in the years of late 
Victorianism. He was a dilettante of dangerous 
activities, as Renan had been of antiquated heresies 
and harmless, outworn systems, and to him Fate 
seemed to have given the future as a toy. Such, 
at least, was the view of the famous Portuguese 
poet Eca de Queiroz, who cast his horoscope in 
1891. 

A quarter century of peace had removed much 
apprehension. After the dismissal of Bismarck 
he had shaped his own policy and gone his own 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

way. To his great advisers he had seemed to 
say: "Ote-toi que je my mette" Yet his career 
had ceased to disquiet, and the youthful exuber- 
ance had given way to mature and conscientious 
labor. With unshakable confidence in himself and 
with a determined application he was making 
Germany the greatest state in Europe. To those 
who, unlike Renan, did not have the misfortune 
to have been born too soon to be his later con- 
temporaries, the riddle seemed to be solving 
itself to the greater good of humanity. The Em- 
peror's army, so he tells us himself, is invincible. 
Never has Germany been defeated so long as she 
was united, and God, who has taken such infinite 
pains with us, will never leave us "in the lurch." 
By means of this powerful, unconquerable army, 
at whose side he had now set one of the greatest 
fleets on the seas, he had, so he told us, laid firm 
and sure the foundations of peace. 

Then suddenly "the abyss is opened, . . . 
the sword is thrust into his hand," and reluc- 
tantly and with a heavy heart he goes forth to do 
battle. Like a shuttle he flits from frontier to 
frontier, now planning an invasion of England, 
now supervising the readministration of Belgian 
industries, and now directing a battle in Poland. 
Surely such a destiny, so immense a power, has 
been granted to no man. It may be he is the 

3 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

great predestined victim; it may be that Time 
is preparing for him a final and well-earned 
European triumph. 

What shall be the end, and where lies the re- 
sponsibility ? No ethical or political problem of 
our time forces itself upon us with greater insist- 
ence. His utterances may help to make the 
question if not the answer clear. Looking for- 
ward dispassionately twenty-three years ago that 
Portuguese student prophesied that this could 
not last, that there would be war; and in the light 
of later events that prophecy about "the allied 
armies" has been recently recalled. It was in 
these words that he closed his brilliant study of 
the youthful Emperor and King: 
- "William II runs the awful danger of being 
cast down Gemoniae. He boldly takes upon 
himself responsibilities which in all nations are 
divided among various bodies of the state — he 
alone judges, he alone executes, because to him 
alone it is (not to his ministers, to his council, or 
to his parliament) that God, the God of the 
Hohenzollerns, imparts his transcendental in- 
spiration. He must therefore be infallible and 
invincible. At the first disaster — whether it be 
inflicted by his burghers or by his people in the 
streets of Berlin, or by allied armies on the plains 
of Europe — Germany will at once conclude that 

4 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

his much-vaunted alliance with God was the trick 
of a wily despot. 

"Then will there not be stones enough from 
Lorraine to Pomerania to stone this counterfeit 
Moses. William II is in very truth casting 
against fate those terrible 'iron dice' to which 
the now-forgotten Bismarck once alluded. If he 
win he may have within and without the frontiers 
altars such as were raised to Augustus; should 
he lose, exile, the traditional exile, in England 
awaits him — a degraded exile, the exile with 
which he so sternly threatens those who deny his 
infallibility. 

"M. Renan is therefore quite right: there is 
nothing more attractive at this period of the cen- 
tury than to witness the final development of 
William II. In the course of years (may God 
make them slow and lengthy !) this youth, ardent, 
pleasing, fertile in imagination, of sincere, perhaps 
heroic, soul, may be sitting in calm majesty in his 
Berlin Schloss presiding over the destinies of 
Europe — or he may be in the Hotel Metropole 
in London sadly unpacking from his exile's hand- 
bag the battered double crown of Prussia and 
Germany.", 

This drama of a life is twenty-three years 
nearer its climax than it was when Renan bade 

5 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

the world good night. With a certain finality of 
pathos a Greek poet whom Renan loved, thinking 
doubtless of his unhappy countrymen who had 
fallen in the long wars between Athens and 
Sparta, had said: "They that have died are not 
sick, nor do they possess any evil things." If 
this be true, quite possibly, then, the world was 
kinder to this aged Frenchman than he shall ever 
know. For the disasters which were to follow 
the rising star of the Emperor, which he regarded 
so curiously, were to be far greater than he had 
ever dreamed. It may be, therefore, that it is he 
and not some of his younger countrymen who are 
to be congratulated on the bournes which marked 
the time of his coming and his passing. 

The question of the responsibility of the Em- 
peror and the limits of his power is one which per- 
haps only time can decide. Undeniably Germany 
has a written Constitution. But that Constitu- 
tion is of comparatively recent date (April 16, 
1 871). It is not looked upon, as is the American 
Constitution, as the source of Germany's political 
life. It is the empire and not the Constitution 
that is holy. Struggles for personal liberty find 
little place in the history of Prussia. They have 
no Cromwell, no Washington, no Robespierre, 
and, significantly too, they have had in times 
past no Ravaillac and no Guiteau. There, still, a 

6 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

certain majesty doth hedge about a king. The 
old idea of fealty, of deutsche Treue, which led 
the retainers of Teutonic chiefs or rulers to sub- 
mit uncomplainingly to every abuse and all op- 
pression and to follow their lords into misfortune 
and into exile, though it has doubtless waned, 
nevertheless retains some vestiges of its traditional 
force even to-day. 

When, therefore, in 1878, by a curious coin- 
cidence, two attempts were made upon the life 
of Emperor William I (one by Hodel, an irrespon- 
sible person of diseased mind and body, who had 
been dismissed from the Social Democratic party; 
and another by Nobiling, who was not a Social 
Democrat), Bismarck immediately and easily 
seized this occasion to crush Social Democracy 
and increase the imperial power. He dissolved 
the Reichstag, and in one month the law-courts 
inflicted no less than five hundred years of im- 
prisonment for lese-majeste. Within eight months 
the authorities dissolved two hundred and twenty- 
two workingmen's unions, suppressed one hundred 
and twenty-seven periodical and two hundred 
and seventy-eight other publications, and in- 
numerable bona-fide co-operative societies were 
compelled by the police to close their doors with- 
out trial and with no possibility of appeal. With 
equal despatch numerous Social Democrats were 

7 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

expelled from Germany on a few days' notice. 
This traditional attitude toward the Social Demo- 
crat, who from our standpoint is the German 
radical and liberal, appears again in the present 
Emperor when he declares (May 14, 1889) that 
every Social Democrat is synonymous with enemy 
of the country. How Social Democracy has grown 
in spite of the Emperor's attempt to check it 
will be evident from a consideration of the follow- 
ing figures, in which the forty political parties are 
grouped into their four larger divisions: 





1871 


1881 


1893 


1907 


1912 


Right, or Con- 
servative 

Liberal 


895,000 

1,884,000 

973,000 

124,000 


1,210,000 
1,948,000 
1,618,000 

312,000 


1,806,000 
2,102,000 
1,920,000 

1,787,000 


2,151,000 
3,078,000 
2,779,000 

3,259,000 


1,149,916 

3,227,846 
2,012,990 

4,238,919 


Clerical 

Social Demo- 
crats 



In spite of this representation in the Reichstag, 
the power of the German political parties is slight. 
The power lies far more with the Emperor and the 
Bundesrat. According to Article II of the Con- 
stitution, the Emperor represents the empire in- 
ternationally and can declare war if defensive 
(in German eyes the present is a defensive war), 
can make peace as well as enter into treaties with 
other nations, and appoint and receive ambas- 

8 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

sadors. When treaties are related to matters 
regulated by imperial legislation, and when war 
is not merely defensive, the Emperor must have 
the consent of the Bundesrat, in which, together 
with the Reichstag, are vested the legislative 
functions of the empire. But de facto, and through 
her power of veto, Prussia controls the Bundesrat, 
and as King of Prussia the Emperor controls 
Prussia. 

That, even so, the Constitution is not the real 
and final source of political power, but a convenient 
political instrument, which in the mind of so great 
an authority as Bismarck might still easily be 
changed without consulting the people, we may 
gather from the fact that the Great Chancellor 
frequently debated the question of limiting the 
suffrage. "The blind Hodhur* [the German elec- 
tor] does not know how to manipulate in his coarse 
hands the Nuremberg toy [the Reichstag] which 
I gave him, and through his voting he is ruining 
the Fatherland. " According to Hohenlohe, Bis- 
marck considered setting aside the Reichstag and 
returning to the old Bundestag. 

The late Price Collier, an enthusiastic admirer 
of Germany, is therefore quite justified in saying: 
"This Reichstag is really only nominally a por- 

*In Norse mythology Hodhur was the powerful blind god who 
slew Balder. 

9 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

tion of the governing body. It has the right to 
refuse a bill presented by the government, but 
if it does so it may be summarily dismissed, as 
has happened several times, and another election 
usually provides a more amenable body.' , And 
if the following judgment seems somewhat down- 
right, it is none the less substantially true: 
• "The fact that the members of the Reichstag 
are not in the saddle but are used unwillingly 
and often contemptuously as a necessary and often 
stubborn and unruly pack-animal by the Kaiser- 
appointed ministers, the fact that they are pricked 
forward or induced to move by a tempting feed 
held just beyond the nose has something to do, 
no doubt, with the lack of unanimity which exists. 
The diverse elements debate with one another and 
waste their energy in rebukes and recriminations 
which lead nowhere and result in nothing. I have 
listened to many debates in the Reichstag where 
the one aim of the speeches seemed to be merely 
to unburden the soul of the speaker. He had no 
plan, no proposal, no solution, merely a confession 
to make. After forty-odd years the Germans, in 
many ways the most cultivated nation in the 
world, are still without real representative gov- 
ernment. " • 

History, to be sure, may be read in many ways, 
but from one standpoint it is perfectly possible to 

10 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

regard the framing of the present Constitution 
and the building up of the present German Em- 
pire not as the last stage in the attempt to give 
freedom and self-government to the German peo- 
ple, but to guarantee and maintain the supremacy 
of Prussia. Whether or not this is a possible 
view, it is, in any case, one occasionally to be 
found implied in the speeches of the Emperor, 
and it came to open expression in the statement 
of William I that the empire was merely a 
"greater Prussia." So, too, when a few years 
ago Alsace-Lorraine proved itself recalcitrant to 
the wishes of its imperial master, he threatened 
that he would make of it a "Prussian province."* 

It need, therefore, not appear as startling as 
would otherwise be the case if on occasions which 
to us would seem peculiarly appropriate (as, for 
instance, the famous Konigsberg speech, August 
25, 1910) the Emperor makes no mention what- 
ever of the Constitution. The sources of his power 
and the sanction for his authority he finds not in 
this instrument but in the history of his ancestors. 

To understand the personality and the speeches 

*On this occasion a Socialist orator deckred in the Reichstag: 
"We salute the imperial words as the confession, full of weight and 
coming from a competent source, that annexation to Prussia is the 
heaviest punishment that one can threaten to impose upon a people 
for its resistance against Germany. It is a punishment like hard 
labor in the penitentiary, with loss of civil rights." 

II 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

of the Emperor it is, therefore, necessary to re- 
call that he is also King of Prussia and that the 
foundation of his ancestors' rule was laid in the 
province of Brandenburg, of which they became 
some centuries ago the margraves and electors. 
In 1300 Prussia was a wilderness inhabited by 
savages who were ruthlessly massacred by the 
Teutonic knights. It was looked upon as lying 
outside the German Empire. Through the knights 
the country was converted to Christianity, and the 
reduced native population was largely augmented 
by immigration from other German states. 

Although the Emperor is not slow to accept 
traditions with regard to his house, he never men- 
tions the old shoot in the genealogical tree of an 
elector which carries us back to one of the fugi- 
tives who fled from Troy with iEneas. For our 
purposes, it was not until 1273 that a count of 
Hohenzollern first came into prominence, when, 
after a fortunate marriage, he became burgrave 
of Nuremberg and prince of the Holy Roman Em- 
pire. With the exception of Frederick William II, 
they have been a thrifty race. A little more than a 
century later there appears in history that one of 
the Emperor's ancestors to whom he frequently 
refers as the founder of his house and that one 
who began to acquire for it divine right. 

Frederick VI of Hohenzollern had already come 
12 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

into prominence through the fact that he had cast 
in his lot with King Sigismund of Hungary. The 
services which he rendered the King, however 
valuable, were not altogether disinterested, and it 
is said that he largely increased his fortune thereby. 
He seems not to have been content with mere 
promises, and it is a matter of record that Sigis- 
mund pledged to him certain districts in Hungary 
as security for 40,000 gulden. As Frederick was 
to lay the foundation for the greatness of the house 
of Hohenzollern and as Emperor William is fond 
of repeating that he came to Brandenburg in 
obedience to a summons from on high, this chapter 
in the history of the Emperor's house is particu- 
larly significant and interesting. 

For some time previously Brandenburg had 
been unfortunate in its rulers and had frequently 
changed hands. In 1373 it had been sold for 
500,000 gulden to Emperor Charles IV, who 
turned it over to his son Wenceslaus. In 1378 
it passed to Wenceslaus' half brother, the Sigis- 
mund mentioned above. Sigismund was in 
financial difficulty. A few years later, therefore, 
he pledged the mark of Brandenburg to his 
cousins Jobst and Procop of Moravia as security 
for a loan of 500,000 gulden. Sigismund de- 
faulted payment in 1393, so that the margraviate 
passed to them. In 1410 Sigismund eagerly de- 

13 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

sired to be elected Emperor of Germany. He 
entrusted the management of what might quite 
properly be called his "campaign" to Frederick 
of Hohenzollern. Jobst of Moravia, who, as we 
have seen, now had claims to Brandenburg was a 
rival candidate. Sigismund, without deigning to 
make repayment, coolly declared that the trans- 
action with Jobst concerning Brandenburg was 
null and void and instructed Frederick to cast the 
vote for the mark. To this vote Frederick clearly 
(if anything in these complicated proceedings 
is clear) had no right. He none the less managed 
the campaign and in a "snap" election cast the 
vote of Brandenburg with assurance. This at 
least was the view of other electors, and this high- 
handed performance did not meet with their ap- 
proval. They called a rival council and elected 
Jobst to the imperial dignity. For both Sigis- 
mund and Frederick it was "fortunate" (we take 
the word from the Prussian historian Eberty) 
that Jobst died shortly after. It is perhaps un- 
fortunate that it should have been suspected ever 
since that he died of poison. 

Sigismund himself seems to have been some- 
what doubtful about the validity of that election 
which Frederick had compassed and after the 
death of Jobst had himself re-elected and was 
finally acknowledged as Emperor. If the times 

14 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

were bad, Sigismund and Jobst were no better 
than their times. It was this same Sigismund 
who, after having granted a safe conduct to the 
great reformer John Huss, allowed him to be 
judicially murdered, a proceeding which made 
even Charles V blush for the empire. 

For the purpose of electing Sigismund, Frederick 
had incurred considerable expense, amounting to 
some hundred thousand gulden. It is perhaps 
again fortunate for all concerned and for the 
honor of the venal empire that no bill of partic- 
ulars specifying the uses of this fund is now avail- 
able, if any was ever rendered. That Frederick, 
however, had not served Sigismund "pour V amour 
de Dieu" is plain from the fact that he again took 
security for his advances. This time he was 
given the unhappy mark of Brandenburg which, 
as we have seen, had belonged to Jobst by virtue 
of a mortgage which Sigismund had never taken 
the trouble to discharge. 

If, then, the law of God is at all similar to the 
law recognized by men, Sigismund had no right 
to give and the ancestor of William II no legal 
right to accept that province. The right by which 
Frederick came into possession of this first state 
of the later German Empire was, consequently, a 
right quite different from rights generally recog- 
nized. This, therefore, must be that "divine right" 

IS 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

which William II is so fond of proclaiming. At its 
best, the document of June 7, 141 1, which gave 
the Hohenzollerns their first claim to their first 
province was in reality a mortgage to a piece 
of property of doubtful title, and it the rather 
florid style of that document seems to bring in 
the business transaction as something quite in- 
cidental, it is altogether similar to the forms in 
which other mortgages were couched in those 
days. That this was so is further evidenced by the 
fact that the Brandenburg cities looked upon Fred- 
erick as the holder of a mortgage and did homage 
to him "zu seinem Gelde" — " for his money"; 
that is, they recognized that they were bound to 
him only until he should be paid. The nobles did 
not do homage to him at all. After "the rain of 
margraves" of the previous decades, it is not 
strange that they should have been slow to rec- 
ognize their latest overlord. Emperor William 
II is, therefore, quite right when he describes the 
mark of May, 1412, as devastated, unruly, and 
altogether unpromising. It could hardly have 
been otherwise. Before Frederick was invested 
with Brandenburg (and he was formally invested 
only after a further payment of 400,000 gulden), 
in 141 7, his princely possessions included merely 
partial claims to smaller districts like Ansbach 
and Bayreuth, which he shared with his brother 

16 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

John. In spite of Frederick of Hohenzollern's devo- 
tion to the cause of religion, the Shakespearean 
motto, "Thrift, thrift, Horatio," may be taken to 
explain satisfactorily his conduct in this regard. 
That the nobles would be unruly he must have 
expected. His own activities and his acceptance 
of the mark had helped to make them so. Fred- 
erick's later service consisted in dispelling a con- 
fusion which he had helped to create. 

In these larger transactions the first great 
Hohenzollern does not seem to have been given 
to listening to the still small voice. Incidentally, 
he was later to turn against Sigismund. The 
assumption, therefore, that he left his southern 
home for the mark out of heed for a divine call, 
as Emperor William in his speech of February 3, 
1899, tells us that he did, is historically, like La- 
place's God, a useless hypothesis. Self-interest, 
for which he seems to have had a fairly keen sense, 
would have impelled him to do no less. Yet it is 
upon the faits et gestes of Frederick of Hohen- 
zollern that Emperor William II bases his claims 
to rule Germany by divine right. 

As we have seen, the mortgage was not dis- 
charged, and Frederick had been formally invested 
with the margraviate and electorship in 141 7. 
He lifted the mark out of the deplorable condition 
in which he found it, compelled obedience, and 

17 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

during the period of his rule — he died in 1440 — 
its lot was much improved and the power of the 
house of Hohenzollern much strengthened. His- 
tory must give him credit for his ability and his 
difficult achievement if not for his motives. 

In the process of establishing himself, his rule, 
like that of his successors was the rule of the 
sword and his policy the Machtpolitik, or policy 
of force. In spite of her comparative poverty, 
therefore, Prussia in the seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries maintained an army larger than 
that of Austria or France. The connection be- 
tween the ruler and the army in a state which 
was founded and maintained by force of arms 
was, therefore, and remains in modern Prussia so 
close that the Emperor is from the standpoint of 
tradition justified in repeating that "the only 
pillar on which the empire rests is the army." 
It was literally ein Folk in Waffen, a people in 
arms. The first really outstanding ruler of the 
province was the Great Elector (1620-88), who 
has always been cited by William II as his model 
and of whom he speaks with a respect that amounts 
to veneration. 

He was born in Berlin and, after passing part 
of his youth in the Netherlands, became ruler of 
Brandenburg and Prussia in 1640, before the 
close of the Thirty Years' War. He restored the 

18 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

prestige of the army and centralized the govern- 
ment and, we are informed by recognized author- 
ities, by a clever but unscrupulous use of his 
intermediate position between Sweden and Po- 
land, procured his recognition as an independent 
Duke of Prussia by both powers and eventually 
succeeded in crushing the stubborn and pro- 
tracted opposition which was offered to his au- 
thority by the estates of the duchy. His success 
in organizing the army was proved by his great 
victory over the Swedes at Fehrbellin, 1675. 

From childhood the Emperor has worshipped 
the Great Elector as his favorite hero. In their 
policies there is a striking similarity, for the elector 
was the first to recognize the importance of sea 
power and is praised by William II for having 
founded the Prussian navy and for having en- 
couraged commerce. He built the first great 
German canal, from the Oder to the Spree (an- 
other lead which the present Emperor was to fol- 
low), and he inaugurated the colonial policy by 
founding a settlement on the west African coast. 
This, likewise, was to be revived by the present 
Emperor, for it was allowed to lapse even under 
Frederick the Great, who considered a "village 
on the frontier" a much greater asset than a state 
oversea. The aim of the Great Elector was to 
make himself an absolute ruler, as he regarded 

19 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

this best for the internal and external welfare of 
the state. But he raised Brandenburg and Prussia 
to a high place and laid the basis of their later 
power. 

Under these lords and their followers the prog- 
ress of Prussia was amazingly rapid. In 1650, 
when London and Paris were cities of a little more 
or less than half a million inhabitants and Am- 
sterdam counted 300,000, Berlin was a village of 
10,000. The population of Prussia itself, which, 
to be sure, had been more than doubled in size, in- 
creased from 1,500,000 in 1688 to 19,000,000 in 
1865. It was in the time of Frederick the Great, 
however, that her power as a state was first firmly 
established. His military genius (he is usually 
said to have originated "the oblique order" of 
battle) and his policy of dissimulation here stood 
him in good stead. He sowed discord among 
his neighbors and awaited the favorable opportu- 
nity to attack even on very slight pretexts and in 
the case of Silesia without the formality of a 
declaration of war. Like William II, he was a 
patron of the arts and sciences and invited noted 
litterateurs and scientists, especially Frenchmen, 
to his court. The scientist Maupertuis and Vol- 
taire were his proteges, and the exiled Rousseau 
for a time found refuge in his domains. He him- 
self wrote in French. It is probably because of 

20 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

his French sympathies and the fact that he was, 
in this regard, not a kerndeutscher Mann that Wil- 
liam II rarely speaks of him personally and men- 
tions usually only his services to his country. 

Frederick died in 1786. He had raised Prussia 
to the position of a first-rate power and, in Dis- 
raeli's phrase, left it "regarded if not respected. " 
His successor, Frederick William II, is remembered 
mostly because of the scandalous character of his 
life, and he showed none of the characteristics of 
the energetic Hohenzollerns. A contemporary 
says of him: "He bears the greatest resemblance 
to an Asiatic prince, who, living within his harem 
with his slaves of both sexes, leaves the business 
of the state to his viziers. The wall, twelve feet 
in height, by which the new garden at Potsdam is 
enclosed, reminds one of the enclosure of a 
seraglio." He was succeeded by his son, Freder- 
ick William III, in 1797. This conscientious but 
ill-starred ruler was to be rendered famous through 
his misfortunes in the time of Napoleon and has 
been overshadowed somewhat in history by his 
beautiful, devoted, and heroic wife Louise. They 
stand closer to modern history than is generally 
realized. The present Emperor often mentions 
them for their heroism and the brave part they 
played in the War of Liberation and in freeing 
their country from the incubus of the Napoleonic 

21 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

Empire. They were the parents of Emperor 
William I, the illustrious grandfather of the 
present sovereign. If, then, Emperor William II 
frequently takes occasion to recall the memory of 
1813 it should be remembered that in his own 
family these events were very near to him, since 
his grandfather had spent his childhood in those 
years of humiliation and had served in the allied 
armies in the time of Napoleon. The man who 
was to become Emperor William I had been born 
as the second son of Frederick William III in 
1797. He was to be preceded on the throne by 
his elder brother, Frederick William IV, who, like 
the present Emperor and like Frederick the Great, 
was an accomplished lover of the arts, but who 
lacked the strength to guide his country with a 
sure hand through the troubled years of the forties. 
He became afflicted in his last years with hopeless 
mental disease, and his brother, after having served 
as regent, became King of Prussia as William I 
in 1 861. 

The idea of uniting Germany into a single em- 
pire had already been seriously agitated in the 
time of Frederick William IV, but it was under 
his brother, largely through the tireless activity 
and wonderfully successful diplomacy of Bis- 
marck, that this great aim was to be achieved in 
the lifetime of the present Emperor. It was in 

22 



THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION 

the chapel at Konigsberg that William I arranged 
for and held his coronation. He cannot be said 
to have been crowned; for although his brother 
had granted Prussia a constitution William him- 
self raised the crown from the altar, set it on his 
own head, and announced in a loud voice: "I re- 
ceive this crown from God's hand and from none 
other." 

It was such a legacy that the present Emperor 
inherited when, after the few months' reign of his 
father, he succeeded to the imperial office; and it 
is this legacy and this tradition which, in fairness 
to the Emperor, we must remember in reading 
such seemingly strange pronouncements as his own 
address at Konigsberg in 1910. 

The later events in German history and the 
subsequent policies of the empire are touched 
upon in such detail that further preamble is 
hardly necessary. That the Emperor has every- 
where energetically taken the lead is undoubted. 
That he should be held responsible in general for 
German diplomacy is implied in his position. 
That he has urged and directed the movement in 
nearly every field of endeavor is plain from the 
varied character of his addresses. No one can 
doubt after reading him that he desired peace, in 
the sense that he preferred peace to war. The 
question that will undoubtedly interest the reader 

23 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

most is the problem of the consistency of his vari- 
ous policies; whether, for instance, the exaggerated 
worship of the army, the devout desire for peace, 
and the insistent imperialism of his later years 
can be brought into harmony; whether they can 
be reduced to any common denominator. How- 
ever that may be, that he has been one of the 
most devoted and conscientious servants of the 
German cause as he sees it cannot possibly be 
denied, 



24 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

AS SHOWN 
IN HIS PUBLIC UTTERANCES 




From a photograph by Brown and Dawson 

WILLIAM II 

German Emperor 

From a photograph taken since the beginning of the war of 1914 



II 

PRELIMINARIES 

June 15, 1888 — October 30, 1889 
THE FIRST OFFICIAL ACT OF THE EMPEROR 

Schloss Friedrichskron, June 15, 1888 

The aged Emperor William I, grandfather of 
William II, departed this life March 9, 1888. 
He was succeeded by his son, Frederick III, who, 
after a reign of only a few months, died on June 
15 of the same year. The present Emperor, who 
was born on January 27, 1859, was, therefore, 
twenty-nine at the time of his accession to the 
throne. It is characteristic that his first official 
act should have been an order to the army. 

The close connection between the army and the 
Prussian Kings is a tradition which William II 
sedulously maintained. In later speeches he will 
frequently give evidence of this desire on his part 
and will quote characteristic sayings of his an- 
cestors to the effect that the army is the "rocher 
de bronze" that it is "the only pillar on which the 
empire rests. " He will repeat to the army of- 
ficers that phrase of his grandfather: "These are 
the gentlemen upon whom I can rely." 

25 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

If the extraordinary versatility of William II 
is one of his most striking qualities, a reading of 
his speeches will convince us that it is none the 
less true that he is first and foremost a soldier. 
By far the great majority of his speeches are on 
military occasions, and it is the martial triumphs 
of his ancestors that he is most fond of commem- 
orating. He seems to be most at home with his 
officers, and although at one time or another dif- 
ferences have arisen between him and every party 
or caste in the empire, even including the Prus- 
sian nobility, this close relationship with the 
army has never been clouded by even a momen- 
tary estrangement. More than any other one 
subject, army reviews have provided the occasion 
for his speeches. If but a few of these are given 
here it is because his sentiments in this regard 
have suffered no change and these addresses are 
largely repetitions of his sense of satisfaction 
and the expression of his good-will. That he 
intended to be the virtual leader of his own host 
is perhaps best indicated by the fact that Von 
Moltke (who was, to be sure, an old man) re- 
signed six weeks after his accession to the throne. 
The present war has proved his capacity in this 
regard, and the army has certainly lost nothing 
in efficiency and has probably gained somewhat 
in confidence since he took over the direction 
from his ancestors and their advisers. The 
present order was issued on the very day of 
his father's death. On that same date a some- 
what similar proclamation was addressed to the 
navy. 

26 




THE EMPEROR IN THE YEAR 

OF HIS CORONATION, 1888 

[Age 29] 



i888] THE FIRST OFFICIAL ACT 

Even ere you, my troops, had put aside the 
external signs of mourning for your Emperor 
and King, William I, who lives ever in your 
hearts, you are called upon to suffer another 
heavy blow through the death this morning, at 
five minutes past eleven, of my dear and deeply 
beloved father, his Majesty, the Emperor and 
King, Frederick III. 

It is in these serious days of mourning that 
God's will places me at the head of the army, and 
it is from a heart stirred deeply, indeed, that I 
address my first words to my troops. 

I enter with implicit confidence, however, upon 
this duty to which God has called me; for I know 
what a sense for honor and duty has been im- 
planted in the army by my glorious ancestors, 
and I know to what degree this sense has ever 
and at all times displayed itself. 

The absolutely inviolable dependence upon the 
war lord [Kriegsherr] is, in the army, the inheri- 
tance which descends from father to son, from 
generation to generation. I would direct your 
gaze to my grandfather, who stands before the 
eyes of all of you, the glorious war lord, worthy 
of all honor — a spectacle more beautiful than 
any other and one which speaks most tellingly to 
our hearts; I would direct your gaze to my dear 
father, who even as Crown Prince won for himself 

27 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

a distinguished place in the annals of the army, 
and to a long succession of famous ancestors 
whose names are resplendent in history and whose 
hearts beat warmly for the army. 

So are we bound together — I and the army — so 
are we born for one another, and so shall we hold 
together indissolubly, whether, as God wills, we 
are to have peace or storm. 

You are now about to swear to me the oath of 
fidelity and obedience, and I vow that I shall ever 
be mindful of the fact that the eyes of my fore- 
fathers look down upon me from that other 
world and that I one day shall have to render up 
to them an account of the fame and the honor of 

the army. 

William. 

Castle Friedrichskron, June 15, 1888. 



TO MY PEOPLE 

Potsdam, June 18, 1888 

Three days after his pronouncements to the 
army and navy Emperor William II issued the 
following proclamation to his people. In tempera- 
ment the son was quite unlike his father. The 
wife of Frederick I and the mother of the present 
Emperor was an English princess, Victoria (daugh- 
ter of Queen Victoria), and through her Frederick 
is generally said to have been influenced by the 

28 



i888] TO MY PEOPLE 

more liberal English tradition. Critics of William 
II have occasionally annoyed him by repeating, 
justly or unjustly, that his father regarded certain 
elements in his character with disapproval. How- 
ever that may be, it is true that the people re- 
garded Frederick in a different light from that in 
which they have come to regard his son. In read- 
ing the speeches of William II one is conscious of 
the fact that he is speaking from a certain emi- 
nence, that the Emperor never forgets that he en- 
joys the advantage of position. He has, therefore, 
put between himself and his people a certain dis- 
tance which did not exist in the case of his father. 
The father treated his subjects as if he were one of 
them, and it is this fact that led them fondly to call 
him " Unser Fritz" However great the respect 
which they feel for the son, none of his subjects 
would think of bestowing any such title on Wil- 
liam II, and, even if they did, it is doubtful 
whether he would feel in any way complimented 
thereby. He is in this respect more like his an- 
cestor Frederick the Great than like his father 
or grandfather, and it is a striking fact that 
in all his speeches he never once mentions this 
somewhat familiar title, of which his father was 
proud. 



God has again hung about us the pall of deepest 
mourning. Hardly had the grave closed upon 
my ever-memorable grandfather, than his Majesty, 
my dearly beloved father, was called from this 

29 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

earthly sojourn to everlasting peace. The heroic 
energy, born of Christian humility, with which, 
unmindful of his sufferings, he accomplished his 
royal duties seemed to leave room for the hope 
that he would be spared still longer to the Father- 
land. God has willed it otherwise. To the royal 
sufferer whose heart was moved by all that was 
great and beautiful, only a few months were al- 
lotted in which he might display upon the throne 
the noble qualities of heart and soul which have 
won for him the love of his people. The virtues 
which adorned him and the victories which he 
gained on fields of battle will be gratefully remem- 
bered as long as German hearts beat, and undying 
fame will illumine his knightly figure in the history 
of the Fatherland. 

Called to the throne of my fathers, I have taken 
over the government, looking to the King of all 
kings, and have vowed to God, following the ex- 
ample of my father, to be a righteous and gentle 
prince, to foster piety and the fear of God, to 
maintain peace, to further the welfare of the coun- 
try, to be a help to the poor and oppressed, and 
to be to the righteous man a true protector. 

If I pray God for strength to fulfil these royal 
duties which He has laid upon me, I am buoyed 
up by that faith in the Prussian people which a 
consideration of our past history confirms in me. 

30 



i888] FIRST DECLARATION OF POLICY 

In good and in evil days Prussia's people have 
ever stood faithfully to their kings. I, too, count 
upon this fidelity, which has ever been preserved 
inviolable toward my fathers in all times of trial 
and danger; for I am conscious that I reciprocate 
it whole-heartedly, as a faithful prince of a faith- 
ful people, and that we are both equally strong in 
our devotion to a common Fatherland. From this 
consciousness of the mutual love which binds me 
to my people, I derive the confidence that God will 
give me wisdom and strength to exercise my kingly 
office for the welfare of the Fatherland. 

William. 

Potsdam, June 18, 1888. 

FIRST DECLARATION OF POLICY 

Berlin, June 25, 1888 

After the death of Frederick III the Reichstag 
was summoned to meet in extraordinary session. 
Most of the affiliated sovereigns of the German 
states assembled to pay homage to the youthful 
Emperor. On this occasion he made from the 
throne a declaration of policy which is interesting 
as showing his ideas before he was subjected to the 
pressure of events. Before he had succeeded to 
the throne it had been generally reported, possi- 
bly because of his known fondness for the army, 
that he was by nature bellicose. This report seri- 
ously distressed the new so 'ereign, and he began 

31 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

his reign with declarations, which have often been 
renewed since, that he would work for peace. He 
likewise outlines his foreign policy and expresses 
the hope that he may further develop friendly re- 
lations with Russia. In this he was to achieve 
but little success, and a few years later the agree- 
ment which bound Russia to observe neutrality 
in case Germany were involved in war was al- 
lowed to lapse, much to the disgust of Bismarck, 
who at that time had been superseded by Caprivi. 
Frederick the Great had warned his successors 
that in the future, in case Prussia wished to wage 
any war, she would first have to assure herself of 
the neutrality of Russia. Bismarck had followed 
this policy and had established it on the basis of 
an agreement. As the relationship to Russia was 
to be of particular consequence, it will be inter- 
esting to have before us an article which appeared 
October 26, 1896, in the Hamburger Nachrich- 
ten, recognized as expressing the views of the 
great Chancellor. It announces that already in 
Bismarck's time the wire between Berlin and St. 
Petersburg was cut and takes up certain events of 
the year 1890. "Up to this time," we are told, 
"both empires were fully agreed that in case one 
of them should be attacked the other would pre- 
serve a benevolent neutrality. After the depar- 
ture of Bismarck this agreement was not renewed, 
and if we are correctly informed about events in 
Berlin, it was not Russia, piqued at the change in 
chancellors, but Count Caprivi who declined to 
continue this mutual assurance, while Russia was 
prepared to do so." 

32 



i888] FIRST DECLARATION OF POLICY 

Emperor William's announcement with regard 
to his personal friendship and the interests of the 
realm may be taken as heralding a new era in 
German foreign policy. He inaugurated what has 
been called "personal diplomacy," and felt that 
it was possible to arrange the relationships be- 
tween states by personally visiting and confer- 
ring with other sovereigns. Shortly after his ac- 
cession, therefore, he set out on a tour of the 
European capitals. Bismarck, who planned his 
foreign relations on the basis of race psychology 
and possible future clashes of interests, opposed 
this strenuously. The visit to St. Petersburg 
(19th to 24th of July, 1888) gave rise to certain 
unpleasant scenes and was only returned by the 
Czar in a very perfunctory manner fifteen months 
later (October 11, 1889). The effect of the friendly 
attentions shown the Czar on this occasion was 
doubtless weakened by the fact that, less than 
three weeks later, Emperor William felt called 
upon to visit the Sultan, by whom he was most 
enthusiastically received in Constantinople. Even 
though the Emperor was most sincere in his de- 
sire to preserve friendship with Russia, events 
were to prove that his method of cultivating diplo- 
matic relations was far less successful than Bis- 
marck's way of working in silence and waiting for 
events. 

With regard to the internal administration of 
the realm, the problem that seemed most pressing 
to William II was the rapid growth of the Social 
Democratic party. This problem had already en- 
gaged the attention of William I and of Bismarck, 

33 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

who recognized its gravity. But here, too, the 
Emperor and Chancellor were to disagree. The 
former felt that he could easily master the situa- 
tion, as may be seen from his remark to Bismarck: 
" Leave the Social Democrats to me." He was 
doubtless sincerely concerned for the welfare of 
the laborer and recognized in it one of the sources 
of the prosperity of the state. His policy was to 
be patriarchal and, bluntly put in Shakespearian 
phrase, amounted to giving them medicine to 
make them love him. But if, to change the meta- 
phor, he offered them his hand in a velvet glove, 
they were, as may be seen from his speech, soon 
to discover that it was a hand of iron. 

Honored Gentlemen: 

I greet you with deep sorrow in my heart, and I 
know that you grieve with me. The recent mem- 
ory of my late father's sufferings, the astound- 
ing fact that three months after the death of 
his Majesty, Emperor William I, I am called upon 
to mount the throne, arouses the same feeling in 
the hearts of all Germans, and our grief has found 
a sympathetic response in all countries of the 
world. Under the weight of this sorrow, I pray 
God to give me strength to fulfil the high office 
to which His will has called me. 

As I follow this command I have before my 
eyes the example which Emperor William be- 
queathed to his successors when, after serious 

34 



i888] FIRST DECLARATION OF POLICY 

wars, he ruled with a love of peace. This same 
example the reign of my late father strove to 
maintain in so far as he was not thwarted in his 
aims by his illness and death. 

I have called you together, Honored Gentlemen, 
in order in your presence to announce to the Ger- 
man people that I am determined, as Emperor 
and as King, to follow in that same path by which 
my late grandfather won for himself the trust of 
his allies, the love of the German people, and the 
kindly recognition of foreign countries. It lies 
with God whether I shall be successful in this or 
not; but earnestly shall I strive to that end. 

The most important tasks of the German Em- 
peror lie in the province of establishing military 
and political safety for the realm from without 
and in supervising the execution of the laws of the 
empire within. The Constitution of the empire 
forms the highest of these laws. To guard and 
defend it and all those rights which it secures to 
both of the legislative bodies* of the nation and 
to every German citizen, as well as those which 
it secures to the Emperor and to each of the states 
of the union, and to the reigning princes, is the 
most important right and duty of the Emperor. 

With regard to legislation in the realm, accord- 
ing to the Constitution I am called upon to act 

* Bundesrat and Reichstag. 
35 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

more in my capacity as King of Prussia than in 
that as the German Emperor; but in both it will 
be my aim to carry out the work of imperial legis- 
lation in the same spirit in which my late grand- 
father began it. Especially do I take to heart in 
its fullest application the message published by 
him on November 17, 1881,* and shall proceed in 
that spirit to bring it about that the legislation 
for the working population shall make more secure 
the protection which, in accordance with the prin- 
ciples of Christian ethics, it can afford the weak 
and oppressed in the struggle for existence. I 
hope it may be possible in this way more nearly 
to eliminate unhealthy social distinctions, and I 

*As this message of Emperor William I was practically the be- 
ginning of labor legislation in Germany and is several times referred 
to, its significant portion is given below. Emperor William I had 
already failed in his policy of crushing Socialism through drastic 
measures of repression. He was now to initiate a policy of attempt- 
ing to kill it with kindness. In spite of certain admirable provisions, 
this too was to fail. The Social Democrats had learned from bitter 
experience that they did not enjoy the good-will of either the grand- 
father or the grandson, and for this reason the projects of social 
legislation were looked upon with suspicion and accepted without 
enthusiasm. The awkward and compromising nature of the Em- 
peror's position is evident in the preamble. 

"Already in February of this year we expressed the conviction 
that the healing of social grievances was not to be sought exclusively 
in the repression of Social Democratic excesses, but also in the direct 
advancement of the welfare of the laborer. We hold it to be our 
royal duty to impress this matter upon the Reichstag, and we would 
look back with greater satisfaction upon all the achievements with 
which God has blessed our reign if we could carry away with us the 
conviction that we had left to the Fatherland new and lasting pledges 
of internal peace and to those in need of help greater security and 

36 



i888] FIRST DECLARATION OF POLICY 

cherish the hope that in fostering our internal 
welfare I shall receive the harmonious support of 
all true subjects of the realm, without division of 
party. 

I hold it, however, likewise my duty to see to 
it that our political and social development pro- 
ceeds according to law and to meet with firmness 
any attempt which aims at undermining the order 
of the state. 

In foreign politics I am determined to keep 
peace with every one in so far as in me lies. My 
love for the German army and my position in it 
will never lead me into the temptation of robbing 
the country of the benefits of peace, unless some 

provisions for support, upon which they may make rightful claim. 
In our attempts to this end we are sure of the support of all the af- 
filiated governments and count upon the support of the Reichstag 
without distinction of parties. To this end a draft of a bill for the 
protection of laborers against accidents, which was presented by the 
affiliated governments in the previous session, will be reformulated 
in view of the discussions held in the Reichstag and will be offered 
for further consideration. As a supplement to it, a project will be 
brought forward which proposes a similar organization of the funds 
for laboring men's sick insurance. But those, too, who on account 
of age or infirmity are no longer able to work have just claim upon 
the community for a higher degree of governmental protection 
than it has previously been possible to accord them. To find the 
proper ways and means for making such provision is one of the most 
difficult but one of the highest tasks of any society which is based 
upon the foundations of a Christian national life. By calling upon 
the sources of this strong national life and organizing it into in- 
corporated associations under state protection we hope to bring 
about the solution of problems which the state alone could not solve 
with the same success. But even in this way the goal cannot be 
reached without the employment of important means." 

37 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

attack upon the empire, or her allies, forces war 
upon us. The army is to make our peace secure; 
yet if that should, nevertheless, be threatened, the 
army will be able to re-establish it with honor. 
And it will be able to do so by reason of the 
strength which it has received from the last army 
bill, which you voted unanimously. To make use 
of that force to wage a war of aggression lies far 
from my thoughts. Germany needs no new mar- 
tial glory nor any conquest of whatever sort after 
she has, once for all, established her right to exist 
as a single and independent nation. 

Our alliance with Austria-Hungary is publicly 
known; I hold fast to this in German faith not 
only because it is concluded but because I per- 
ceive in this defensive alliance a basis for European 
balance of power as well as a legacy from German 
history. The public opinion of the entire Ger- 
man people supports this alliance, and it is founded 
upon the European law of nations, as it prevailed 
undisputed until 1866. Similar historical rela- 
tions, and the fact that we have similar national 
needs to-day, ally us with Italy. Both nations 
wish to hold fast to the blessings of peace in order 
to devote themselves undisturbed to the strength- 
ening of their newly acquired unity, to the devel- 
opment of their national institutions, and to the 
furtherance of their prosperity. 

38 



i888] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

To my great satisfaction, our existing agree- 
ments with Austria-Hungary and Italy permit me 
to foster carefully my personal friendship for the 
Russian Emperor and the friendly relations which 
have existed for a hundred years with the neigh- 
boring Russian Empire, a course which accords 
with my own feelings as well as with the interests 
of Germany. 

I stand as ready to serve the Fatherland in the 
conscientious promotion of peace as in the care 
for our army and rejoice in the traditional rela- 
tions with foreign powers through which my efforts 
in the former direction are being furthered. 

Trusting in God and in the ability of our peo- 
ple to defend themselves, I entertain the hope 
that for an appreciable time we may be allowed 
to preserve and strengthen through peaceful labor 
what my two predecessors on the throne had ac- 
quired through their efforts on the field of battle. 



OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

Berlin, November 22, 1888 

The first months of the Emperor's reign were 
devoted largely to visiting the heads of the con- 
federated German states and in cultivating the 
acquaintance of foreign rulers. His main pur- 
pose, as he tells us on a later occasion, was to com- 

39 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

bat the idea that it was his intention to enter upon 
a career of war. 

The workingman's insurance act, which has 
been referred to, was one of the most important 
legislative provisions ever made in the interests of 
labor. The cost of this insurance was distributed 
between the employer, the employed, and the 
state. In spite of its undoubted benefits, it had 
failed to disarm the Social Democrats, and the 
party had continued to increase. They com- 
plained that the proportion of the cost borne by 
them was too great, and, as they had been previ- 
ously and were soon again to be treated as 
enemies, they were inclined to look upon it as a 
bribe. By his "social-political" legislation the 
Emperor meant to forestall the Socialist pro- 
gramme. When this well-intentioned movement 
failed to dissolve the party, which continued to 
increase, he was not slow to show his resentment. 

Honored Gentlemen: 

When I greeted you for the first time, at the 
beginning of my reign, you stood with me under 
the weight of the severe visitations which my 
house and the empire have experienced in the 
course of the present year. The sorrow over this 
loss will never be wholly extinguished during the 
lifetime of the present generation, but it cannot 
hinder me from following in the footsteps of my 
late ancestors and completely fulfilling the de- 
mands of duty with manly vigor and fidelity. 

40 



i888] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

Buoyed up by this sense of duty and assuming 
that this exists in you to the same degree, I give 
you my greeting and bid you welcome as we again 
take up our common labors. 

My travels have carried me into different parts 
of the empire, and everywhere I have found evi- 
dences, both on the part of my exalted colleagues 
and of the people, that the princes and the popu- 
lation of Germany are, with absolute trust, de- 
voted to the empire and its institutions and find 
the pledge of safety in their union. From such 
testimony you have doubtless come to the con- 
clusion, no less satisfying to you than to me, that 
the organic union which now binds the empire 
together has taken deep and firm rooting in the 
people at large. I therefore feel the need of grate- 
fully expressing on this occasion the pleasure which 
it gives me. 

It fills me with great satisfaction that, after diffi- 
cult and laborious negotiations, the inclusion of 
the free Hanseatic cities, Hamburg and Bremen, 
into the customs union of the empire has now 
been realized. I see in this the blessed fruit of 
our combined efforts. May the expectations 
which we count upon from this extension of the 
empire's customs districts be realized in fullest 
measure, both for the empire and for these two 
most important seacoast towns ! 

41 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

The government of the Swiss Federation has 
suggested a revision of the commercial treaty be- 
tween Germany and Switzerland. Filled with the 
desire of confirming the existing friendly relations 
between the two countries and of extending them 
also into the realm of their commercial policies, 
I stand ready to meet their proposal. The nego- 
tiations have been conducted through the offices 
of representatives from the states bordering upon 
Switzerland, and their result consists in a further 
agreement through which the treaty regulations 
for reciprocal trade will be extended and the ex- 
change of industrial products will be made easier. 
After its successful acceptance by the Bundesrat 
the agreement will be presented to you with the 
proposal, in order that you may bestow upon it 
your constitutional sanction. 

The budget for the next fiscal year will be laid 
before you without delay. The draft gives proof 
of the satisfactory condition of the imperial fi- 
nances. As a result of the reforms instituted in 
the last few years, with your co-operation, in the 
way of tariffs and internal revenues, surplus re- 
ceipts may be expected, and upon this basis we 
shall not only be provided with a new means of ful- 
filling the inevitable obligations of the empire but it 
may be possible for our constituent states to ex- 
pect an increase of means for their own purposes. 

42 



1888] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

I greet with joy the signs of a revival of eco- 
nomic activity in various fields. Even though 
the pressure which bears upon the farmer is not 
yet relieved, nevertheless, as I look forward to 
the possibility which has lately appeared of a 
greater utilization of certain agricultural prod- 
ucts, I hope that an amelioration also of this most 
powerful branch of our industrial work will be 
brought about. 

The bill which has already been announced on 
the regulation of the industrial and agricultural 
societies will be laid before you for your decision. 
It is to be hoped that the enfranchising of asso- 
ciations with limited liability which the bill pro- 
poses will prove itself beneficial in increasing agri- 
cultural credit. 

Certain shortcomings which have appeared in 
connection with the insurance against sickness 
call for legal remedy. The necessary preliminary 
investigations for this have so far progressed as to 
make it possible, in all probability, to lay before 
you in the course of this session an adequate pres- 
entation of the case. 

As a precious legacy from my grandfather, I 
have taken over the problem of carrying out the 
social-political legislation begun by him. I do 
not allow myself to be carried away by the hope 
that through legal measures the exigencies of our 

43 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

time and human misery can be abolished from the 
world. I judge it to be a duty, however, of the 
executive power to strive with all its faculties 
toward the mitigation of existing industrial griev- 
ances and through organized measures to empha- 
size the fact that love of our neighbor, which has 
its foundations in Christianity itself, should be a 
recognized duty of the entire state. The difficul- 
ties which stand in the way of the state's assisting 
in the universal insurance of all workers against 
the dangers of age and sickness are great; but, 
with God's help, they are not insurmountable. 
As the result of extensive investigations a bill will 
be presented to you which reveals a possible means 
of attaining this end. 

Our settlements in Africa have imposed upon 
the German Empire the duty of converting that 
part of the world to a Christian civilization. The 
friendly government of England and her Parlia- 
ment has known for a hundred years that the ful- 
filment of this obligation must begin with com- 
bating the hunting of slaves and the trade in 
negroes. I have, therefore, sought and concluded 
an understanding with England, whose meaning 
and aim you shall learn. On it depend further 
negotiations with other friendly and interested 
governments and further proposals for the Reichs- 
tag. 

44 



i888] THE STRIKING MINERS 

Our relations with all foreign governments are 
peaceful, and my efforts are continually directed 
toward cementing this peace. Our treaties with 
Austria and Italy have no other aim. It is in- 
compatible with my Christian faith and with the 
duties which as Emperor I have assumed toward 
the people needlessly to bring upon Germany the 
sorrows of a war, even of a victorious one. In this 
conviction I have looked upon it as my duty soon 
after I ascended the throne to greet not only my 
affiliated rulers within the realm but also the 
friendly neighboring sovereigns. I have sought 
to find an understanding with them concerning 
the fulfilment of this trust which God has placed 
upon us, of preserving, so far as in us lies, the 
peace and welfare of our people. The confidence 
with which I and my policies have been received 
at all the courts which I have visited leads me to 
hope that, with God's help, I and my allies and 
my friends will succeed in preserving the peace 
of Europe. 



THE EMPEROR AND THE STRIKING MINERS 

Berlin, May 14, 1889 

The Emperor's change of attitude toward the 
Socialists is evident from his conduct in the con- 
flict which had arisen in the Rhenish and West- 

45 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

phalian coal districts between the miners and 
their employers. He personally received dele- 
gations from both sides. The miners' delegation 
consisted of Schroder (spokesman), Siegel, and 
Bunte. In answer to Schroder's speech, the 
Emperor announced: 

It goes without saying that every subject, when 
he presents a wish or a petition, has the ear of his 
Emperor. Of this I have given evidence in that 
I have invited the deputation to come here and to 
set forth their wishes in person. You have, how- 
ever, placed yourselves in the wrong, because your 
agitation is unlawful for no other reason than the 
fact that the fourteen days of warning have not yet 
expired, after which the workers would have been 
legally justified in ceasing work. In consequence 
of this you are guilty of breaking a contract. It is 
self-evident that this breach of contract has an- 
gered and injured the employers. 

Further, there are workers who do not wish to 
strike and who, either through force or by means 
of threats, are hindered from continuing their work. 
Also, certain of the workers have seized upon or- 
gans of the authorities and upon property which 
did not belong to them and have even, in indi- 
vidual cases, offered resistance to the military 
force called to protect them. Finally, you wish 
that work should be generally resumed again only 

46 



i88 9 ] VISIT OF THE KING OF ITALY 

when your combined demands shall have been ful- 
filled at all the mines. 

As for the demands themselves, I shall, through 
my government, carefully examine them and have 
the results of the investigation delivered to you 
through the appointed authorities. Should, how- 
ever, there occur transgressions against the pub- 
lic order and peace, or should the agitation ally 
itself with the Social Democrats, then I should not 
be in a position to reconcile your wishes with my 
good-will as ruler. For, to me, every Social Demo- 
crat is synonymous with an enemy of the realm 
and of the Fatherland. Should I, therefore, dis- 
cover that Social-Democratic tendencies become 
involved in the agitation and instigate unlawful 
opposition, I will step in sternly and ruthlessly 
and bring to bear all the power that I possess — 
and it is great. 

Now go to your homes, think over what I have 
said, and seek to influence your comrades to re- 
flection. Above all, however, you must not, 
under any circumstances, hinder your comrades 
who wish to return to their work. 

VISIT OF THE KING OF ITALY 

Berlin, May 22, 1889 

At the time of the great spring review of this 
year, King Humbert came to Berlin to return the 

47 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

Emperor's visit. A state banquet was held, at 
which the Emperor proposed the following toast 
to the King of Italy: 

May it please your Majesty to accept from me 
and my people our heartiest thanks for the proof 
of the friendship which your Majesty has given 
me by this visit ! 

My troops, likewise, are filled with grateful 
pride that they have been able to conduct them- 
selves with honor in the eyes of your Majesty, an 
experienced soldier. 

Full of the happy remembrance of the army 
manoeuvres at Rome, I raise my glass and drink 
to the health of your Majesty and of her Majesty, 
the Queen; to the health of your brave troops as 
well as to the unchanging friendship with the 
house of Savoy, whose motto, " Sempre avanti, 
Savoja" has led to the unification of the kingdom 
of Italy. Long live his Majesty, King Humbert ! 

THE ENGLISH FLEET AND THE GERMAN 
ARMY 

Sandown Bay, August 5, 1889 

On this date the Emperor was created admiral 
of the English fleet by Queen Victoria. On the 
same day he was present at a regatta on Sandown 
Bay, where he replied as follows to a toast offered 
by the Prince of Wales: 

48 



i88 9 ] THE ENGLISH ARMY 

I prize most highly the honor which has been 
shown me by the Queen in appointing me admiral 
of the English fleet. I sincerely rejoice to have 
seen the manoeuvres of the fleet, which I consider 
the finest in the world. Germany possesses an 
army which answers to her needs, and if the Brit- 
ish nation possesses a fleet sufficient for the needs 
of England, this in itself will be considered by 
Europe in general as a weighty factor in the main- 
tenance of peace. 



THE ENGLISH ARMY 

Aldershot, August 7, 1889 

On his mother's side, who was a princess royal 
of England, the Emperor was a grandson of Queen 
Victoria, to whom he paid frequent visits and 
whom he held in high regard. William II began 
his reign with cordial feelings toward his island 
neighbors. If the friendship between the two na- 
tions was never particularly close, the estrange- 
ment of modern times may be said to have begun 
in colonial and commercial rivalries in the last 
decades of the nineteenth century and to have 
been sharpened by events in China and especially 
by the Boer War. The situation became more 
acute after the Morocco incident, in 1904-5, 
and when on that occasion England sided with 
France she was by a large portion of the German 
people definitely aligned with their enemies. The 

49 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

present toast, which was reported in this form in 
the Kreuzzeitung of August 9, 1889, was received 
with no protest or denial. The Emperor had been 
present at the manoeuvres of 29,000 English troops 
at Aldershot, under General Sir Evelyn Wood. 
The toast was offered in the camp tent of the Duke 
of Cambridge, in response to one by that officer. 

It gives me particular satisfaction to have ap- 
pointed the Duke of Cambridge, the commander- 
in-chief of the English army, as a member of the 
28th Regiment, since this same regiment had as 
chief at one time our comrade at Waterloo, the 
Duke of Wellington. 

The friendship with the English, which had 
been sealed in blood, my honored grandfather 
maintained to the end of his life. 

The British army fills me with the greatest ad- 
miration. If ever the possibility of counting upon 
volunteers is doubted, I shall be in a position to 
give testimony to their capacity. 

At Malplaquet and at Waterloo the Prussian 
and British blood was shed in a common cause. 

THE CZAR AT BERLIN 

Berlin, October ii, 1889 

On the occasion of Alexander Ill's visit to 
Berlin the Emperor offered the following toast 
at the banquet in the White Room of the Royal 

So 



i88 9 ] ON BOARD AN ENGLISH FLAG-SHIP 

Palace. It may be "considering too curiously 
to consider so," but to many there will seem to 
be something matter-of-fact in the Czar's reply, 
which is printed below. This friendship between 
the rulers of the two neighboring countries was, 
however, outwardly preserved up to the time of 
the present war, as is evident to those who will 
consult the telegrams exchanged between William 
and Nicolas on the eve of the outbreak. 

I drink to the health of my honored friend, 
his Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, and to the 
continuation of the friendship which has existed 
for more than one hundred years between our 
houses and which, as a legacy received from my 
ancestors, I am determined to foster. 

The Czar replied in French, as follows: 

Je remercie Votre Majeste de Vos bonnes paroles 
et je partage entierement les sentiments que Vous 
venez d'exprimer. A la sante de Sa Majeste, 
VEmpereur et Roi — Hourra! 

ON BOARD AN ENGLISH FLAG-SHIP 

The Pirjeus, October 30, 1889 

On visits to his English relatives the Emperor 
had, as a lad, made occasional sojourns in Great 
Britain, and that romantic temperament of which 
he was to give indications even in much later 

5i 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct., 1889 

years was much impressed by the sight of En- 
glish ships. He recalls the memory on many oc- 
casions. As will be plain later, he early conceived 
the idea and realized the necessity of a powerful 
fleet. As this is his first reference to the navy 
in the present volume it is interesting to note 
the attitude of humble discipleship which in the 
mid-years of the next decade is to give way to 
quite another conception. 

I am proud of the rank which Queen Victoria 
has bestowed upon me. It might be supposed 
that my interest in the British navy dated from 
my appointment as admiral; that, however, is 
not so. From my earliest youth, when as a boy 
I ran about on the wharves at Portsmouth, I was 
much interested in British ships. My inspection 
of the ships to-day has afforded me great satis- 
faction, and I congratulate you on their appear- 
ance. Nelson's famous watchword is no longer 
necessary. They all do their duty, and we as a 
young sea power follow England in order to learn 
from the English navy. 



52 



Ill 

AFTER BISMARCK 

May 6, 1890 — June 21, 1895 
OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

Berlin, May 6, 1890 

This address to the Reichstag is of particular 
importance. The Emperor had now visited most 
of the sovereigns of Europe and felt that he had 
established himself. He was here definitely out- 
lining a policy which he himself had framed. In 
that period when the Emperor was still Prince 
William, Bismarck had said: "In him there is 
something of Frederick the Great, and he is also 
able to become as despotic as Frederick the Great. 
What a blessing that we have a parliamentary 
government !" He had likewise prophesied that 
the Emperor would be his own chancellor, and he 
had discovered in his own case that the prophecy 
was a true one. In the spring of this year, after 
numerous misunderstandings, Bismarck had him- 
self been forced into retirement, and henceforth 
his name will be mentioned but rarely. One of 
the points on which they had disagreed was pre- 
cisely this project for labor legislation, which 
was, unfortunately, not destined to fulfil the hopes 

53 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

entertained by William II. A number of the 
projects here laid down were carried out only 
partially and others not at all. So, for instance, 
in this same year the Emperor had issued the fol- 
lowing decree: 

"For the fostering of peace between employers 
and laborers legal regulations are contemplated 
regarding the forms in which the laborers shall, 
through representatives who possess their con- 
fidence, participate in the regulation of matters 
of common concern and the protection of their 
interests in negotiations with employers and with 
the organs of my government. By such institu- 
tions the laborers are to be enabled to give free 
and peaceful expression to their wishes and com- 
plaints, and the state authorities are to be given 
the opportunity of continually acquainting them- 
selves with the conditions of the workers and of 
cultivating contact with the latter." 

As late as 1905 it had not been carried into 
execution, though chambers of labor have since 
been established which partially carry out this 
end. 

The industrial courts of which the Emperor 
speaks have been far from successful in arbitration 
disputes. They are established in all cities of over 
20,000 inhabitants and consist of equal numbers 
of employers and employees. Dawson holds that 
unwillingness to mediate lies with the employers. 
During the year 1905, 406 courts acted as boards 
of conciliation on 350 occasions, all told, and in 
only 128 cases were they successful. Part of the 
failure lies in the fact that no wage agreements 

54 



i8 9 o] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

existed. Of 219 "aggressive" strikes in Berlin in 
1905, organized by the "free" trades federations, 
55 were for the introduction of wage agreements. 

The Emperor's disappointment at the failure of 
his policy to check the growing disaffection of 
the laboring classes will later be evident. 

It is significant that in this address, though 
measures for the army are strongly urged, there 
is as yet no mention of the navy. 

Honored Gentlemen: 

Since you have been chosen in the recent elec- 
tions to work in common with the allied govern- 
ments, I bid you welcome at this the opening of 
the eighth legislative session of the Reichstag. I 
earnestly hope that you may succeed in finding a 
satisfactory solution for the important problems 
of legislation which here confront you. A num- 
ber of these problems are of so pressing a nature 
that it did not seem possible to defer longer the 
summoning of the Reichstag. 

I consider as most important among them the 
further enlargement of the bill concerning the pro- 
tection of the laborer. The strikes which have oc- 
curred in different parts of the country during the 
past year have given me occasion to bring about 
an investigation of the question as to whether our 
present legislation has, to the fullest extent, taken 
cognizance of those wishes of the working people 

55 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

which are really just and reasonable and within 
the state's power of regulation. The question of 
first importance concerns the guarantee of Sunday 
as a day of rest for the laboring man, as well as the 
limitation of woman and child labor in accordance 
with consideration for humanity and with regard 
to the natural laws of development. The govern- 
ments of the affiliated states are convinced that the 
proposals in this connection made by the last 
Reichstag can, according to their present content, 
be given legal effectiveness without harm to other 
interests. In this connection, however, numerous 
other provisions have shown themselves unsatis- 
factory and capable of improvement. To this 
category belong especially the legal provisions for 
the protection of the laborer against danger to his 
life, health, and morals, as well as the laws con- 
cerning the announcement of regulations of labor. 
The prescriptions concerning the working men's 
books need amplification with the aim of insuring 
the respect due the older men against the increas- 
ing impertinence of the younger laborers. The 
consequent changes demanded and the further ex- 
pansion of the trade regulations find their expres- 
sion in a bill which you will shortly receive. 

A further proposal endeavors to secure the 
better regulation of the industrial arbitration 
courts and, likewise, an organization of these which 

56 



1890] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

shall make it possible to use them as mediators in 
cases of dispute between employers and employees 
over the terms on which labor shall be continued 
or resumed. 

I trust that your willing co-operation will secure 
an agreement of the law-making bodies concern- 
ing the reform laid before you and thereby take a 
step forward toward the solution of our relations 
to the laboring class. The more the laboring 
population recognizes the serious earnestness with 
which the government is striving to render their 
status satisfactory, so much the more will they be 
conscious of the dangers which must arise from 
their insistence upon extravagant and impossible 
demands. In the proper provision for the laborer 
lies the most effective means of increasing the 
strength which I and my associated rulers are 
called upon and willing to use in opposing with 
unyielding determination any attempt to shake 
the provisions of the law. 

Nevertheless, in the case of this reform there 
can be question only of such measures as are fea- 
sible without endangering the Fatherland's indus- 
trial activity and with it the most important vital 
interests of the laborer himself. Our industry 
forms only one department in the economic work 
of all the peoples who take part in the competition 
in the market of the world. With this in mind, I 

57 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

have sought to bring about an interchange of 
opinions on the matter, among the states of Europe 
where similar economic conditions prevail, as to 
how far a general recognition of the legislative 
problems relative to the safety of the working man 
can be established and brought to pass. I am 
compelled to gratefully acknowledge that these 
suggestions have found favor in all states concerned 
and especially in those where the same idea was 
already being agitated and was approaching exe- 
cution. The course of the international confer- 
ence which met here fills me with especial satis- 
faction. Its conclusions are the expression of a 
general attitude with regard to this most important 
province of our contemporary civilization. The 
principles there laid down will, I have no doubt, 
prove a rich field which, with God's help, shall 
blossom to the blessing of the workers of all coun- 
tries and which will also bear fruit in drawing all 
nations together. 

The continued preservation of peace is ever the 
goal of my efforts. I dare express the conviction 
that I have succeeded in securing the confidence 
of all foreign governments in the good faith of 
this policy of mine. Like myself and my esteemed 
affiliated rulers, the German people recognize that 
it is the problem of the empire to preserve peace 
by cultivating the alliances already concluded for 

58 



1890] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

our defense, and the friendly relations now exist- 
ing with all foreign powers, in order to further 
prosperity and civilization. For the accomplish- 
ment of this task, however, we need an armed 
force compatible with our position in the heart of 
Europe. Every postponement of matters per- 
taining to the army endangers the political bal- 
ance of power and with it the success of our 
policy directed toward maintaining peace. 

Since the basis of our army organization was 
decided upon for a definite period the military 
organization of our neighbors has been broadened 
and perfected to an unforeseen degree. Indeed, 
we, too, have neglected nothing in our attempt to 
strengthen our forces, in so far as this was possi- 
ble within the limits prescribed by the law. 
Nevertheless, what we could do within these 
limits was so little that we cannot postpone a 
consideration of the whole question without danger 
to ourselves. An increase of the present peace 
strength and an increase of the bodies of troops 
— especially for the field-artillery — must not be 
longer deferred. A bill will be laid before you 
according to which the necessary measures for 
strengthening the army will go into effect on the 
1st of October of this year. 

The plan which has been instituted in West 
Africa toward the suppression of the slave-trade 

59 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

and for the protection of the German interests 
has, during the last months, made progress, thanks 
to the self-sacrificing activity of our officers and 
officials who are stationed there. The complete 
restoration of peace in those districts may be ex- 
pected very shortly. The expense thus incurred 
will be covered by an additional grant. 

The budget for the current fiscal year already 
needs a corresponding enlargement on account of 
the plans referred to. Furthermore, the increase 
of salary for a part of the officials of the realm, 
which has long been projected and which has be- 
come ever more pressing, can no longer be delayed. 
The supplementary budget which is to be sub- 
mitted to you will give you an opportunity to 
prove your friendly interest in satisfying this need. 

If the labors hereby imposed upon you come to 
a successful issue, new and sound guarantees for 
the inner welfare of the Fatherland will then have 
been won. May it be granted to us through com- 
mon effort to achieve this end ! 

REVIEW OF THE NINTH ARMY CORPS 

Flensburg, September 4, 1890 

The review of the Ninth Army Corps took 
place in the presence of the Empress, Princes 
Henry and Albert, of Archduke Karl Stephen of 
Austria, and Count Moltke at Flensburg. It 

60 



1890] REVIEW OF THE NINTH ARMY CORPS 

will be remembered that in 1864 Bismarck suc- 
ceeded in enlisting Austria to aid Prussia in a 
war upon Denmark, which was at that time de- 
prived of Schleswig-Holstein, the harbor of Kiel, 
and more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. One of the 
battles of the war to which the Emperor refers 
was fought in this district. The address was 
made at the banquet following the review. 

My opinion of to-day's performance of the 
Ninth Army Corps under the command of your 
Excellency [General von Leszczynski] I have al- 
ready expressed to you and your officers. 

Whoever, like myself, has for any length of 
time stood at the front or partly at the front and 
partly as spectator has been present at many 
imperial manoeuvres knows what such a parade 
means to an army corps. I know very well what 
arduous preliminary labor is involved, the agita- 
tion, the attention, the exertion of the troops. I 
know very well how each individual officer, high 
or low, every soldier, rejoices in and yet with a 
certain solicitude looks forward to the moment 
when he shall parade before his war lord.* 

I know from my own experience when I was 
still a captain what satisfaction I felt when my 
adjutant could call to me that the Emperor had 
nodded as the company passed by him. This 

* Kriegsherr. 
6l 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

is true to-day, likewise, in the case of every 
officer. 

I repeat to you my hearty thanks and express 
to you my congratulation for the magnificent 
parade. This army corps which you have mar- 
shalled before me has a bearing and discipline 
which I must demand unconditionally from every 
army corps. I do not doubt for a moment that 
the work done in preparing for a review will prove 
useful in the preparation for battle. 

We stand here upon historic ground, on which 
our armies, united with those of Austria, jointly 
won a bloody victory. 

I raise my glass and drink to the Ninth Army 
Corps in the expectation that here and hereafter, 
in war as in peace, it will maintain its famous 
traditions. Long live the Ninth Army Corps ! 



ACCIDENTS WITH AGRICULTURAL 
MACHINERY 

Berlin, November ii, 1890 

The following address shows the Emperor in 
one of the little-known phases of his amazingly 
versatile career. It exhibits, likewise, his command 
of detailed knowledge in a field where we should 
least expect it and his solicitude for the welfare 
of faithful subjects. Besides his interest in the 
sea, he has also for many years been much inter- 

62 



1890] AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY 

ested in agriculture; and his estate in East Prussia 
has been in a sense an experiment station. He 
prides himself on being a pioneer and in person- 
ally supervising his domain and is occasionally 
pleased to call himself a farmer. He attended the 
meetings of the Prussian Agricultural Commis- 
sion and at one of the sessions took part in the 
discussion on the means of safeguarding the life 
of the laborers. 

Two points have occurred to me which I would 
like to ask you to consider. It is worthy of note 
that during my reign there have been brought 
to my attention many striking cases in which 
laboring women have been killed through acci- 
dents with machinery. I receive regularly from 
the Minister of Justice tabulated lists of requests* 
for pardon, and it seems to me that there is among 
them a striking number of cases of women farm- 
hands who have met with accidents in tending 
machines. As has already been said, I am not 
granting these pardons as freely as formerly. It 
is to be noted, furthermore, that a great differ- 
ence prevails in the adjudication of the cases in 
which penalties may be inflicted and in the 
penalties themselves. I next inquired why these 
women workers— it was especially girls working 
with the thrashing-machines— were killed, and it 

*From employers, of course. 
63 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

usually appeared that the girls were caught by 
their dresses in the transmission pulleys and so 
became entangled in them. Then I asked if there 
were no means of protection there. Yes, indeed, 
they said, according to the police regulations the 
pulleys must have a cover or a box must be put 
over them, but in each of these cases this had 
not been attended to. There also appeared here, 
on the one side, a certain indifference either on 
the part of the owner or of the person who was 
conducting the work concerning the life of the 
women in his employ and, on the other side, an 
indifference on the part of the women themselves, 
who had become accustomed to working near the 
moving parts of the machines and to stepping 
over the pulleys, and finally the accident hap- 
pened. Therefore, may I ask you that in using 
the word "machines" these provisions regarding 
power transmission be not forgotten. Many of 
the machines stand in one place and the ap- 
paratus for transmission is in another place or in 
the yard, and that is a chief cause of the acci- 
dents. For every one passes through the yard, and 
especially if there are children playing there, all 
too easily some misfortune may occur. 

Let me, therefore, remark, concerning what one 
of the preceding speakers has said, that I myself 
have come to the same conclusion as Professor 

64 



i8 9 o] AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY 

Schmoller. I believe that it is not sufficient that 
the state should lay upon the worker the obliga- 
tion to be careful and that it should give him 
directions how to conduct himself with regard to 
the machines. This cannot be carried out. 

I am much more of the opinion that, if such is 
your desire and if it is plain that harm has re- 
sulted from the fact that the workers move about 
too carelessly, it is much better that the obliga- 
tion should be put upon the owner or upon the 
person commissioned to conduct the machines 
and that he be required to watch over the em- 
ployees more carefully. If the owner cannot 
burden himself with it then he should have such 
officials as would have sufficient influence with 
the worker to make him be careful. We must not 
forget what, for the most part, such a worker 
is like and what he knows of machinery. Fre- 
quently he knows only that it cuts or that it is 
otherwise dangerous. A certain grip is shown him 
— he must do it like this — but the rest he does 
not understand and regards with indifference. 
Consequently regulations which concern only or 
more particularly the laborer would not help, for 
the people would not understand their aim and 
when the regulation caused them annoyance or 
trouble would fail to consider it and thus render 
themselves liable to accident. 

6s 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

I believe, therefore, that it is most important in 
the question of the conduct of agricultural ma- 
chinery that we should work toward proper super- 
vision over the laborer by the employer. When 
this happens accidents will begin to diminish. 

It has interested me very much to learn here 
that it is not the machines but altogether differ- 
ent circumstances which cause most of the acci- 
dents in agricultural operations and that par- 
ticularly in all provinces where horses are employed 
accidents are frequent. I am therefore pleased 
that this phase of the question of protecting 
against accident has also come up here and that 
the gentlemen are now engaged upon it. 

For the rest it has been a great pleasure to me 
to take part in these deliberations. 



ALSACE-LORRAINE 

Berlin, March 14, 1891 

On this occasion a deputation from Alsace- 
Lorraine presented a protest against the continu- 
ance of the Passzzvangy a rule which made it im- 
possible to leave Alsace-Lorraine except under 
very special circumstances and on receiving a 
pass from the imperial agent. The rule was par- 
ticularly obnoxious, and the strictness with which 
it had been enforced was much resented, even by 
subjects favorably disposed to the empire. It 

66 



1891] ALSACE-LORRAINE 

was, however, merely one of many grievances. 
Since the time of the Franco-Prussian War, 
Alsace-Lorraine had been governed like a con- 
quered province— by a governor appointed by, and 
responsible to, the Emperor alone. Up to this 
time the policy had been one of repression, save 
for a very brief period. It is possible that the 
Emperor might have been inclined to give them 
some relief had it not been for the unfortunate 
result of the visit of his mother to Paris. After a 
visit in London, the Empress Frederick, in Feb- 
ruary, 1 891 (it is supposed on the advice of her 
son), visited Paris and, while there, was to ask 
certain of the French artists to exhibit at the 
Berlin exhibition. It had evidently been assumed 
that the time had come for a rapprochement. The 
Empress descended at the German embassy very 
quietly and had received promises from several 
artists, when her presence in Paris became known 
to the League of French Patriots and to the ger- 
manophobe Deroulede, who immediately started 
a violent agitation and demonstrations against 
Germany. The artists withdrew their promises 
under the pressure of outraged patriotic opinion, 
and the situation became so tense that the Em- 
press was forced to depart very hastily in a manner 
that suggested flight. The incident tended to 
make bad feeling on both sides and reacted un- 
favorably upon the attitude of the empire toward 
the former French provinces. The difficulties of 
circulation were increased, and the regulations 
about passes were made particularly trying. 
These difficulties were removed in 1899, but the 

67 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

provinces continued to protest, as they were not 
given equal rights with the other German states 
and have not enjoyed them up to the present. 
In May, 191 1, a new so-called constitution was 
given to Alsace-Lorraine. The executive power is 
exercised by the Emperor in the name of the em- 
pire; the province has three votes in the Bundesrat, 
which are so restricted that they give very little 
satisfaction to Alsace-Lorraine and are so far 
under the control of Prussia that they give con- 
siderable dissatisfaction to other German states. 
The Emperor appoints officials, including the 
Statthalter, or governor, and the delegates are in- 
structed by the Statthalter and must vote according 
to instructions. The votes do not count in any 
vote concerning the imperial Constitution. There 
was much protest because the new constitution 
did not grant the provinces sufficient indepen- 
dence. The previous Provincial Assembly (Landes- 
ausschuss) had been summarily closed on the 9th 
of May, 191 1. Affairs were but little improved 
under the new arrangement, and the Emperor 
came to Strasburg in great anger, May 13, 191 2, 
and made the following threatening address: 
"If this keeps up I shall knock your constitution 
to bits. Up to the present you have known me 
from my good side, but you can perhaps learn to 
know me from the other side also. If things do 
not change, we will make of Alsace-Lorraine a 
Prussian province." This speech of the Emperor's 
is not printed officially, but it was made the sub- 
ject of an interpellation in the Reichstag on May 
17, 191 2, and the burgomaster of Strasburg ad- 

68 



i8 9 i] ALSACE-LORRAINE 

mitted that the sense of the imperial utterance was 
properly given. With regard to Alsace-Lorraine, 
the Emperor has tried both kindness and severity. 
The Zabern incident proved that in neither of 
these policies had he succeeded in winning either 
the love or the subjection of the inhabitants. 

The following is the estimate of Dr. H. A. Gib- 
bons on the situation in Alsace-Lorraine im- 
mediately before the outbreak of the European 
War: 

"One could easily fill many pages with illustra- 
tions of senseless persecutions, most of them of the 
pettiest character, but some more serious in na- 
ture, which Alsace and Lorraine have had to 
endure since the granting of the constitution. 
Newspapers, illustrated journals, clubs, and or- 
ganizations of all kinds have been annoyed con- 
stantly by police interference. Their editors, 
artists, and managers have been brought fre- 
quently into court. Zislin and Hansi, celebrated 
caricaturists, have found themselves provoked 
to bolder and bolder defiances by successive con- 
demnations and have endured imprisonment as 
well as fines. Hansi was sentenced to a year's im- 
prisonment by the High Court of Leipsic only a 
month before the present war broke out and 
chose exile rather than a Prussian fortress. 

"The greatest effort during the past few years 
has been made in the schools to influence the minds 
of the growing generation against the 'souvenir 
de France? and to impress upon the Alsacians what 
good fortune had come to them to be born Ger- 
man citizens. 

69 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

"Among the boys, the influence of this teaching 
has been such that over twenty-two thousand 
fled from home during the period of 1900-13 to 
enlist in the Foreign Legion of the French Army. 
The campaign of the German newspapers in 
Alsace-Lorraine and, in fact, throughout Ger- 
many was redoubled in 191 1. Parents were 
warned of the horrible treatment accorded to the 
poor boys who were misguided enough to throw 
away their citizenship and go to be killed in 
Africa under the French flag. The result of this 
campaign was that the Foreign Legion received 
a larger number of Alsacians in 1912 than had 
enlisted during a single year since 1871 ! 

"Among the girls, the German educational 
system flattered itself that it could completely 
change the sentiments of a child, especially in 
the boarding-schools. Last year the Empress of 
Germany visited a girls' school near Metz which 
is one of the best German schools in the Reichs- 
land. As she was leaving she told the children 
that she wanted to give them something. What 
did they want ? The answer was not sweets or 
cake but that they might be taught a little French ! 

"The former French provinces have been flooded 
with garrisons and have been treated just as they 
were forty years ago. The insufferable spirit of 
militarism and the arrogance of the Prussian 
officers in Alsacian towns have served to turn 
against the empire many thousands whom an- 
other policy might have won; for it must be 
remembered that by no means all the inhabitants 
of the Reichsland have been by birth and by home 

70 



i8 9 i] ALSACE-LORRAINE 

training French sympathizers. Instead of crush- 
ing out the 'souvenir de France,' the Prussian 
civil and military officials have caused it to be 
born in many a soul which was by nature German. 
"The Prussian has never understood how to win 
the confidence of others. There has been no 
Rome in his political vision. As for conceptions 
of toleration, of kindness, and of love, they are 
non-existent in Prussian officialdom." 



It gives me great satisfaction that the com- 
mittee of the provinces has turned to me in an 
important question concerning the interests of 
Alsace-Lorraine. I see in this fact a valuable 
proof of the increasing understanding which my 
good-will and my interest in the development of 
your home country has begotten in the minds of 
its representatives. I am also pleased to accept 
this assurance that the people of Alsace-Lorraine, 
satisfied for the time being with the existing politi- 
cal relations, spurn every interference by foreign 
elements and look to the empire alone for the 
protection of their interests. 

While I offer you my thanks for this expression 
of loyal sentiment, I regret that for the present I 
cannot fulfil your wishes. I must confine myself 
in this matter to expressing the hope that in a 
not too distant future our relations may make 
possible the alleviation of conditions on the west- 

7i 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

ern boundary. This hope will be the sooner 
realized the more the people of Alsace-Lorraine 
are convinced of the inviolability of the union 
which binds them to Germany and the more de- 
cidedly they exhibit their resolution to remain 
forever faithful and immovable in their loyalty 
to me and to the empire. 



SWEARING IN THE RECRUITS 

Potsdam, November 23, 1891 

Every year the Emperor is present at the swear- 
ing in of the recruits to the guard and to the navy. 
He has made innumerable speeches on such occa- 
sions. The present somewhat striking pronounce- 
ment was delivered at a time when his feeling 
toward the Socialists, who had been guilty of no 
particular outrage, still ran very high. Tolstoi 
saw in it the worst excesses of militarism and 
issued shortly after the following criticism of the 
Emperor's attitude: 

"This man expresses what all wise men know 
but carefully conceal. He says frankly that men 
who serve in the army serve him and his advan- 
tage and must be prepared for his advantage to 
kill their brothers and fathers. 

"He expresses frankly, and with the coarsest of 
words, all the horror of the crime for which the 
men who enter into military service are prepared, 
all that abyss of degradation which they reach 
when they promise obedience. Like a bold hyp- 

72 



i8 9 i] SWEARING IN THE RECRUITS 

notizer, he tests the degree of the hypnotized man's 
sleep: he puts the glowing iron to his body, the 
body sizzles and smokes, but the hypnotized man 
does not awake. 

"This miserable, ill man, who has lost his 
mind from the exercise of power, with these 
words offends everything which can be holy for 
a man of our time, and men — Christians, liberals, 
cultured men of our time, all of them — are not 
only not provoked by this insult but do not even 
notice it." i 

It is possible that such criticism and the resent- 
ment aroused in the minds of the law-abiding 
Socialists led him later to tone down his utter- 
ances, though on one subsequent occasion, again 
with the Socialists in mind, he made a somewhat 
similar address (March 28, 1901). 

Recruits to the Regiment of My Guard: 

You are brought together here from all parts 
of the empire to fulfil your military duty, and 
in this holy place have just sworn fealty to your 
Emperor to your last breath. You are still too 
young to understand all this. You will, however, 
little by little, be made familiar with its signifi- 
cance. Do not imagine it too difficult, and trust 
in God; occasionally also say the Lord's Prayer 
— that has frequently given many a warrior fresh 
courage. 

Children of my guard, to-day you have become 
incorporated into my army; you now stand under 

73 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

my command and have the privilege of wearing 
my uniform. Wear it honorably. Think of the 
famous history of your Fatherland; remember 
that the German army must be armed against 
the internal as well as the external foe. More and 
more unbelief and discontent raise their heads in 
the Fatherland, and it may come to pass that you 
will have to shoot down or stab your own rela- 
tives and brothers. Then seal your loyalty with 
your heart's blood ! And now go to your homes 
and fulfil your duties. 

— (According to the Breslauer Lokalanzeiger of 
December 8.) 

According to the Neisser Zeitung, the second 
paragraph ran as follows: 

Recruits ! You have now before the conse- 
crated servant of the Lord and before His altar, 
sworn fealty to me. You are still too young to 
understand the true meaning of what has just 
been said; but be diligent now and follow the 
directions and instructions given you. You have 
sworn loyalty to me; that means, children of my 
guard, that you are now my soldiers, you have 
given yourselves up to me, body and soul; there 
is for you but one enemy, and that is my enemy. 
In view of the present Socialistic agitations it may 
come to pass that I shall command you to shoot 

74 



1891] THE EMPEROR'S FIRST ARMY BILL 

your own relatives, brothers, yes, parents — which 
God forbid — but even then you must follow my 
command without a murmur. 

Entirely similar, but shorter, is a clipping from 
the Berlin paper Das Folk, according to the ac- 
count of one who heard the speech. 

You have sworn to me the oath of loyalty; that 
means, from now on you know only one command, 
and that is my most high command; you have 
only one enemy, and that is my enemy ! And so 
I may sometime — which God forbid — have to bid 
you to shoot upon your own relatives, yes, brothers 
and parents — then remember your oath ! 



THE EMPEROR'S FIRST ARMY BILL 

Berlin, July 4, 1893 

The opposition between the Reichstag and the 
government reached a climax when the session 
which opened in 1886 was dissolved in January, 
1887, because it refused to vote for the bill fixing 
the army status for the ensuing seven years. 
The next Reichstag, elected in February, voted 
the bill. In spite of the fact that the new ar- 
rangement was to have been effective until 
March, 1894, as early as the session of 1890 
changes were introduced which fixed the peace 
footing at 468,983 men, exclusive of the one-year 

75 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [July 

volunteers. In November, 1892, a new army bill 
was presented, to run for six years, fixing the 
peace footing at 492,068. All infantrymen were 
to serve two years. In the debates of 1887 it was 
announced that Russia was an ally of Germany. 
The failure to renew the neutrality agreement 
with that power and the growing rapprochement 
between France and Russia seems to have been 
most in the Emperor's mind in calling for an in- 
crease. The increased appropriation of 1887 was 
covered by a tax on spirits, sugar, and grain. 
The new increase was to be met by indirect taxes, 
mostly on beer and brandy. When the Reichstag 
refused to vote the bill as it stood, it was dissolved 
and a new one called. The new Reichstag, which 
is here addressed, accepted the bill on July 15. 
As much of the opposition had been due to the 
fear of the less-favored classes that the increased 
cost would fall heavily on them through indirect 
taxes, the Chancellor assured the representatives 
(as the Emperor here indicates) that there would 
be no tax on beer or brandy nor any other neces- 
sities of life. 



Since you have been called to work in common 
with the confederated governments, it is my de- 
sire at the beginning of your deliberations to greet 
you and bid you welcome. 

The draft of the bill concerning the peace foot- 
ing of the German army, through which a strength- 
ening of our available force would have been 

7 6 



i8 9 3l THE EMPEROR'S FIRST ARMY BILL 

achieved, was presented to the last Reichstag. 
To my great regret the project did not meet with 
the approval of the representatives of the people. 
The conviction, unanimously shared by my co- 
rulers, that in the face of the development of the 
military arrangements of the other powers this 
government could no longer put ofF such a shaping 
of its military status as should guarantee its safety 
and its future led to the decision to dissolve the 
Reichstag and, by the calling of new representa- 
tives to attain the end recognized as necessary. 
Since the proposal of this law the political situation 
of Europe has undergone no change. To my great 
satisfaction, the relations of the empire to the 
foreign states are altogether and everywhere 
friendly and free from any cloud. The organized 
military force of Germany, however, compares 
still more unfavorably with that of our neighbors 
than it did last year. Since her geographical 
position and her historical development impose 
upon Germany the duty of taking thought for a 
proportionately large standing army, the further 
development of our defensive strength, therefore, 
with regard to the progress of other countries be- 
comes a pressing necessity. In order to satisfy 
the duties constitutionally laid upon me, it seemed 
to me incontrovertible that I should exercise 
every existing means at my command toward the 

77 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [July 

restoration of a sufficient and effective defense of 
the honor of the Fatherland. 

There will, therefore, be laid before you with- 
out delay a new bill concerning the peace footing 
of the army. In it the wishes which were strongly 
expressed during the discussion of the former bill 
are taken account of, and, in accordance with this, 
demands made upon the personal capacity and 
upon the people's ability to pay taxes have, in so 
far as this could be done without endangering the 
end sought, been lessened. 

The interest of the realm demands, especially 
in looking forward to the impending expiration of 
the seven-year arrangement next spring, that the 
bill should be decided upon with all possible des- 
patch, in order that this year's recruiting can be 
undertaken on the new basis. A delay in carry- 
ing out this proposal would be felt for more than 
twenty years, to the detriment of our defensive 
strength. 

To make it possible for you to give your undi- 
vided attention to the discussion of the bill, the 
confederated governments will refrain from bur- 
dening the session with other important matters. 

I and my honored corulers are still of the opin- 
ion that the means necessary for the reorganiza- 
tion of our military equipment can be raised 
properly, and without overburdening the people, 

78 



i8 9 3l THE EMPEROR'S FIRST ARMY BILL 

in the manner brought forward last autumn in 
the -draft of the proposed taxation bill. Never- 
theless, the question of making good the deficit is 
still the object of continued discussions. I expect 
that a proposal will be set before you by the be- 
ginning of the next winter session in which is ex- 
pressed, even more strongly than in the former 
bill, the principle that the providing of the neces- 
sary means must be carried out with the utmost 
regard for the individual's ability to pay and 
with as little draft as possible upon our power of 
levying taxes. Until the expiration of the present 
official year the contributions from the various 
states may be drawn upon to cover the excess. 

Honored Sirs, we have succeeded in the diffi- 
cult task of welding the German race into a strong 
union. The nation honors those who have given 
their possessions and their blood for this work 
and who have brought the Fatherland to political 
and industrial prosperity — a prosperity which is 
the pride and the pleasure of their contemporaries 
and which, if they build in the same spirit as their 
fathers, will guarantee to the generations to come 
the greatness and the happiness of the empire. 
To protect the glorious acquisitions with which 
God has blessed us in our struggle for indepen- 
dence is our most sacred duty. We can, however, 
only fulfil such a duty toward the Fatherland by 

79 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

making ourselves sufficiently strong in military 
power to defend ourselves, so that we may re- 
main a reliable guarantor of the peace of Europe. 
I trust that your patriotic, self-sacrificing assist- 
ance in the pursuance of this aim will not fail me 
and my honored corulers. 

The Emperor followed the formal address from 
the throne with the following: 

And now, gentlemen, go forth. May our an- 
cient God look down upon you and bestow upon 
you His blessing to the end that you may bring 
to successful issue an honorable work for the wel- 
fare of our Fatherland ! Amen. 

ARRIVAL IN METZ 

Metz, September 3, 1893 

On the 3d of September the Emperor, accom- 
panied by the Crown Prince of Italy, paid a visit 
to Metz. To Burgomaster Halm's speech of wel- 
come the Emperor replied as follows : 

It is with a heart deeply stirred that I enter 
the city of Metz, and if I could not come last year, 
as I wished,* I see, nevertheless, that the reason 

* The Emperor came to Metz ordinarily to review the Eighth and 
Sixteenth Army Corps. Because of the cholera scare, the imperial 
manoeuvres had not taken place in the previous year, 1892. The 
Emperor, who was anxious to conciliate his subjects, had taken 
up a domain in Urville. 

80 



i8 9 3 ] DEDICATION OF FLAGS 

for my remaining away has been rightly under- 
stood. 

I rejoice to see the monument to my late grand- 
father at length finished and to be able to allow 
my troops to pass before it. Metz and my army 
corps are a corner-stone in the military might of 
Germany, destined to protect the peace of Ger- 
many — yes, of all Europe — and it is my firm pur- 
pose to maintain this peace. 

I thank the city of Metz for its festive welcome, 
and I pray you that my thanks be made known to 
the citizens through an official announcement. 
If I have removed my headquarters to Urville it 
is because as a landholder in Lorraine I could not 
do otherwise, since my subjects in this province 
wish to have me there. In token of my imperial 
favor I extend to the burgomaster a golden chain 
of office which the burgomasters of Metz shall be 
entitled to wear from this time forth. It gives 
me^ especial pleasure, however, to be able to 
bestow this chain upon the present burgomaster. 

DEDICATION OF FLAGS 

Berlin, October 18, 1894 

Through a reorganization of the army which 
was to be made effective in the next legislative 
session, a large number of partial bodies of troops 
were created which were later to be increased to 

81 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

bring up the peace footing of the army from 538 
whole and 173 half battalions to 624 whole bat- 
talions. Every two of these constitute a regi- 
ment and every two regiments a brigade. On 
the anniversary of the battle of Leipzig the 
Emperor, in the presence of a large number of 
princes, including the young King of Servia, 
turned over flags to these troops. His statement 
that the only pillar upon which the empire rested 
was the army was strongly resented by many of 
his loyal subjects of the empire who happened 
to be merely peaceful merchants or farmers or 
laborers. The Emperor was doubtless provoked 
into making the statement from the fact that some 
of his legislative policies had met with determined 
opposition on the part of representatives of the 
people. This he has always regarded as dis- 
loyalty and as boding disaster to the empire. 
Since the army's tradition for loyalty to the 
imperial war lord renders opposition here im- 
possible, he saw in it the only salvation of the 
state. 

In order that they may serve as a shining sym- 
bol of glory for the troops, we have had the bless- 
ing of Heaven called down upon the ensigns which 
I have bestowed upon every fourth battalion of 
my regiments, and I now turn them over to the reg- 
imental commanders and to the regiments them- 
selves. This inspiring day is one whose mem- 
ories move the world and which marks an epoch 

82 



1894] DEDICATION OF FLAGS 

in our German history. I first salute the mauso- 
leum of him* whose birthday was once wont to 
fill the entire German Fatherland with jubilation, 
the mausoleum of him to whom it was granted to 
win glorious victories under the eyes of the great, 
heroic Emperor, his father, and to cover 'the 
flags which were consecrated in 1861 with glory. 
They were nailed to their staffs in the rooms in 
which the history of Brandenburg and Prussia is 
immortalized in paintings. The monuments of 
the rulers and of the generals who created the 
glory of Prussia have looked down upon them. 
These flags have now been brought before the 
monument of the Prussian King who focussed the 
eyes of the world upon them in years of fierce 
conflict and whose last breath was a wish of 
blessing for his army. In the year 1861, when 
my grandfather undertook the reorganization of 
his arms, he was misunderstood by many and 
attacked by even more; nevertheless, the future 
gave him his splendid justification. Just as at 
that time, so now, too, distrust and discord are 
rife among the people. The only pillar on which 
the empire rested was the army. So is it to-day ! 
The flags which are assembled here are destined 
for entire bodies of troops, and I hope that the 
half battalions to which they are to-day delivered 

* Emperor Frederick III. 
83 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

will soon stand as entire battalions in the army 
of the Fatherland. 

But you, gentlemen, now take over these en- 
signs and with them the obligation of maintain- 
ing the tradition of devotion, of discipline unto 
death, of unconditional obedience toward the 
war lord against all inward and outward enemies. 
Even as heretofore, may the blessing of the Most 
High rest upon our army, and may the watchful 
eyes of our ancestors look down upon and protect 
Prussia's army and her flags ! With God for King 
and Fatherland ! 



NAVY RECRUITS 

Kiel, December 3, 1894 

It is part of the Emperor's duty to administer 
the oath every year to the recruits for the navy 
as well as to the recruits for the guard. He is in- 
clined to talk to them usually in very simple lan- 
guage, as here, for instance. Indeed, though they 
are usually twenty years of age, he often addresses 
them as the "children of my guard." 

The oath is holy, and holy is the place in which 
you swear it. The altar and the crucifix bear 
witness to this; it means that we Germans are 
Christians, that we at all times first give the glory 
to God in every affair that we undertake, esoecially 

84 



i8 9 4l NAVY RECRUITS 

in the highest — that of strengthening the defense 
of the Fatherland. . You wear the uniform of the 
Emperor; you are thereby preferred over other 
men, and take your rank equally with your com- 
rades of the army and navy; you receive a special 
place and assume obligations. By many you will 
be envied because of the uniform which you wear; 
hold it in honor, and do not besmirch it; this you 
will accomplish best when you think of your oath 
— you especially, you people of the sea, who so 
often have the opportunity in your various 
journeyings upon the water to learn to know the 
almighty power of God ! 

Wherein lies the secret of the fact that we have 
often overcome our adversary with lesser num- 
bers ? In discipline. What is discipline ? Single- 
hearted co-operation, single-hearted obedience. 
That our ancient forebears already clung to this 
ideal a single example will show: On one occasion 
they were marching to war against the Romans. 
They had climbed over the mountain and found 
themselves suddenly face to face with the huge 
masses of the army. Then they realized what a 
difficult moment was before them. They first 
prayed, giving God the glory, and then, bound 
together with chains, side by side, they fell upon 
the enemies and conquered them. To-day we no 
longer need the actual chains; we have a powerful 

85 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

religion and our oath. Remain true to it, and 
think of it, whether you are within the country or 
without. Hold your colors high, the black, white, 
and red which here stand before you, and think 
of your oath, think of your Emperor. 

CHRISTENING OF A CRUISER 

Kiel, March 26, 1895 

The Emperor, as will be plain, took much satis- 
faction in the development of his navy and was 
to make innumerable addresses on these occasions. 
The present is a fair type of a number of the 
shorter speeches. Very soon they were to become 
occasions in which he was to broach the idea of 
the greater navy. The present address will serve 
to illustrate the spirit he was hoping to instil into 
this branch of the service. 

• As a testimony to the industry of the Father- 
land, after the diligent labors of the imperial 
dockyards, this vessel now stands before us ready 
to be given over to its element. Thou shalt now 
be enrolled in the German navy. Thou shalt 
serve in the protection of the Fatherland to bring 
defiance and annihilation to the enemy. The 
names of the ships which belong to the same 
class are taken from the old Germanic sagas. 
Therefore thou also shalt hark back to the ancient 
time of our ancestors, to the powerful divinity who 

86 



i8 9 5] VISIT TO BISMARCK 

was worshipped and feared by all our German 
seafaring forefathers and whose mighty realm 
stretched from the north even unto the south 
pole, in whose province the northern battles were 
fought, and whence death and destruction were 
brought into the land of the enemy. Thou shalt 
bear the name of this great and mighty god. 
Mayst thou prove thyself worthy of it ! So do I 
christen thee with the name of JSgir. . 



VISIT TO BISMARCK 

Friedrichsruh, March 26, 1895 

Historians of modern Germany have discussed 
and explained in various ways the causes of the 
retirement of Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor. ,, 
From the moment he became "Minister President 
and Minister of Foreign Affairs," in 1862, his hand 
was the hand that guided German policy, and his 
was the genius that presided over and shaped the 
unification of Germany and the building of the 
empire. It has been truly said that the biography 
of Bismarck is the history of German union. He 
had been born in Brandenburg and spent his life 
in the service of the Prussian Kings. It was he 
who in the dark days preceding the victories of the 
sixties had given William I heart and had pre- 
vented him from giving up his task. It was, 
therefore, a great shock to the German world to 
learn that, two years after the accession of William 

87 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

II, the great founder of German unity had been 
forced into retirement. There had been rumors 
of previous disagreements. The German Chan- 
cellor is responsible not to the Reichstag but 
solely to the Emperor; he takes the responsibility 
of shaping the imperial policy. It was said that 
Bismarck resented certain interference with his 
authority in his own cabinet. It is certain that 
he looked with disfavor on the Emperor's policy 
with regard to labor legislation. With regard to 
the attitude toward Russia there was likewise 
disagreement, and Bismarck opposed the Em- 
peror's visit to Constantinople. But aside from 
these questions of policy, there were deep psy- 
chological incompatibilities. Crabbed age and 
romantic youth could not live together. Further- 
more, the Emperor wished to take the credit for 
initiating and carrying through his own policies. 
He was not content to be a shadow king. Bis- 
marck, after nearly forty years of service, was not 
willing to be a puppet chancellor. He insisted 
on the form of cabinet government decreed in 
1852. The Emperor's disposition of mind may 
be gathered from the following extracts from a 
speech delivered shortly before Bismarck's retire- 
ment, and it should be remembered that at this 
time Bismarck was far from being an enthusiastic 
supporter of certain measures then taking shape 
in the mind of William II. On the 5th of March, 
1890, the Emperor announced to the Branden- 
burgers: "All those who wish to help me in this 
work I bid heartily welcome, whoever they may 
be; but all those (whoever they may be) who op- 



1895] VISIT TO BISMARCK 

pose me in this work I shall smash to pieces" 
(zerschmettern). Bismarck was forced to offer his 
resignation two weeks later. Besides his ducal 
title, he was given the honorary title of general 
of cavalry, with the rank of field-marshal. Be- 
cause of his opposition, he was treated in the fol- 
lowing years with extreme coolness and occasion- 
ally as an enemy. The German ambassador at 
Vienna was instructed from Berlin, on the occa- 
sion of the marriage of Bismarck's son, not to 
accept an invitation to the wedding. Foreign 
ambassadors were informed that for the Emperor 
there were two Bismarcks: the former responsi- 
ble servant and the present irresponsible subject. 
The honors given him were not generally honors 
due a great ex-chancellor, but honors due a mili- 
tary officer. "Living," said Bismarck, "they 
give me the honors of the dead." On this, his 
eightieth birthday, the Reichstag voted down the 
proposal that they send him their congratulations. 
The Emperor, with an exclusively military suite, 
however, paid him this visit and presented him 
with a sword engraved with his arms and with the 
arms of the conquered provinces, Alsace-Lorraine. 
In all probability, Bismarck felt the lack of men- 
tion of his services as Chancellor; his entirely 
diplomatic reply printed below would seem to in- 
dicate this. 

Your Highness: 

Our whole Fatherland decks itself out to cele- 
brate your birthday. This day belongs to the 

89 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

army. Its first duty is to do honor to its com- 
rades, to its old officers, whose efficiency made it 
possible for it to carry through the mighty deeds 
which found their reward in the crowning of a re- 
generated Fatherland. 

The military host which stands gathered here 
is a symbol of the whole army, especially this regi- 
ment which has the honor of calling your Highness 
its commander, and especially that standard which 
reminds us of the fame of Brandenburg and Prus- 
sia, which dates from the time of the Great Elector 
and is consecrated by the blood shed at Mars-la- 
Tour. Your Highness will see in spirit, behind 
this gathering of troops, the collected army of the 
entire German race in battle array to celebrate 
this day with us. 

In sight of this host, I come now to present to 
your Highness my gift. I could find no better 
token than a sword, this noblest weapon of the 
Germans; a symbol of that instrument which 
your Highness with my late grandfather helped 
to shape, to sharpen, and also to wield; the symbol 
of that great, powerful period of building whose 
mortar was blood and iron; that weapon which 
is never dismayed and which, when necessary, in 
the hands of kings and princes will defend against 
internal foes that unity of the Fatherland which 
it had once conquered from the foes without. 

90 



i8 95 ] THE EMPEROR WILLIAM CANAL 

May your Highness be good enough to notice the 
linking of your arms with those of Alsace-Lor- 
raine here engraved and feel again all that history 
which found its conclusion in the events of twenty- 
five years ago ! 

But we comrades call out: His Highness, Prince 
Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg— Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
Hurrah ! 

Bismarck replied with more pith: 

Your Majesty will allow me to lay my humblest 
thanks at your feet. My military position with 
regard to your Majesty does not permit me to 
further express my feelings to your Majesty. I 
thank your Majesty. 



OPENING OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM 

CANAL 

Kiel, June 21, 1895 

In furthering Germany's economic and indus- 
trial development, the building of canals has 
served an important function in reducing the cost 
of transportation and in making possible com- 
petition with other nations. Although the Em- 
peror William Canal was an idea of Bismarck's, 
his name is not here mentioned. Emperor Wil- 
liam II has taken a very lively interest in this de- 

91 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

velopment of inland waterways and has rendered 
a great service to the industrial development of 
his country in this regard. 

In memory of Emperor William the Great, I 
baptize the canal "Emperor William Canal. " 

The Emperor then accompanied his three ham- 
mer strokes with the following words: "In the 
name of the Triune God, to the honor of Emperor 
William, to the blessing of Germany, and to the 
welfare of the people I" 

He proposed this toast at the banquet: 

I behold with pleasure and with pride this bril- 
liant and festive gathering, and in the name of 
my honored colleagues I bid you all, the guests 
of the empire, most heartily welcome. We wish 
to express our inmost thanks for the interest you 
have taken in the completion of a work which, 
begun in peace and accomplished in peace, is 
to-day given over to general trade. 

It is not only in our own day that the idea first 
existed of joining the North and Baltic Seas by a 
great canal; far back in the Middle Ages we find 
drafts and plans for the working out of this under- 
taking. In the past century the Eider Canal was 
built, which, while it affords a wonderful example 
of the ability of that day, still, as it was intended 
only for the passage of the smaller craft, could not 

92 



i8 9 s] THE EMPEROR WILLIAM CANAL 

satisfy the increased demands of the present day. 
It remained for the newly founded German Em- 
pire to find a satisfactory solution for this great 
problem. 

It was my immortal grandfather, his Majesty, 
Emperor William the Great, who, thoroughly ap- 
preciating the significance of the canal for in- 
creasing the national welfare and strengthening 
our defense, devoted his unflagging interest to the 
plan for the building of an effective waterway 
between the North and the Baltic Seas and for 
overcoming the many obstacles which stood in the 
way of its accomplishment. Joyfully and con- 
fidently the affiliated rulers of the empire, as well 
as the Reichstag, followed the imperial initiative, 
and for eight years the work was industriously 
carried on which, as it approached completion, 
aroused in ever-increasing measure the public in- 
terest. What technic on the basis of its great 
development has been able to accomplish, what 
was possible through pride and joy in the work, 
what finally could be done in promoting the wel- 
fare of the numberless workers engaged in the 
task, in accordance with the principles of the 
humane social politics of the empire, has been 
accomplished in this undertaking. Therefore the 
Fatherland dare rejoice with me and mv noble 
colleagues in the success of this enterprise. 

93 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June, 1895 

However, we have worked not only for our own 
interests. In accordance with the great cultural 
mission of the German people, we open the locks 
of the canal to the peaceful trading of the nations 
with each other, and it will give us great satisfac- 
tion if its increasing use shall prove not only that 
the intentions by which we were led are under- 
stood but that they are becoming fruitful in in- 
creasing the welfare of the people. 

The interest in our celebration on the part of 
the powers whose representatives we see among 
us, and whose magnificent ships we have to-day 
admired, I greet with greater joy the more I have 
the right to see in it the complete justification of 
our efforts directed toward the righteous main- 
tenance of peace. Germany will also place the 
work inaugurated to-day in the service of peace 
and will consider herself fortunate if the Emperor 
William Canal strengthens and promotes in this 
service for all time our friendly relations with the 
other powers. 

I empty my glass to the friendly sovereigns and 
powers. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! 



94 



IV 

THE BEGINNING OF WORLD 
POLITICS 

June 16, 1896 — March 22, 1905 
THE BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS 

Berlin, June 16, 1896 

It is difficult to fix any definite date at which 
any new movement in politics may be said to have 
begun. Toward the close of the year 1894 there 
appear unmistakable signs of a new dispensa- 
tion. In this year Caprivi, Bismarck's successor 
as Chancellor, retired in favor of Prince Hohen- 
lohe. The latter appears in his new office for 
the first time in the session of the Reichstag which 
opened December 5, 1894. In that session the 
insufficient protection of Germans residing in for- 
eign lands was repeatedly insisted upon, and the 
colonizing spirit and the agitation for a very con- 
siderable increase in the navy began to make them- 
selves felt. The building of three new cruisers 
was authorized, but the plan to erect a dry dock 
at Kiel was rejected. The year 1895 was to be 
crowded with festivals celebrating the twenty- 
fifth anniversaries of the victories of the Franco- 
Prussian War, and there resulted a consequent 
impetus to what might be called nascent imperial- 
ism. This was further stimulated by outward 

95 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

events. In 1895 France, Germany, and Russia 
intervened between Japan and China, then at 
war. In 1897 Germany seized and then leased 
Kiaochow from China for ninety-nine years and 
intervened in the war between Greece and Turkey 
on behalf of the Turks. She began, therefore, 
to take a more prominent part in world politics 
and definitely entered upon her policy of ex- 
pansion. The German people felt that this was 
rendered necessary by the fact that Germany 
had become a great industrial and exporting 
nation, whose interests demanded insistence on 
the "open-door" policy. Her rapidly increasing 
population (the annual increase was between 
800,000 and 900,000) also, we are told, made 
necessary the creation of new colonies to take care 
of surplus population and to provide sustenance 
for those at home who were being drawn off into 
industrial pursuits. 

It should be remembered in this connection, how- 
ever, that emigration from Germany is very far 
from being on the increase. It has diminished 
astonishingly since 1880. In the decade from 
1880 to 1890 the annual emigration averaged 
about 135,000, and in 1881 it reached its highest 
point, 220,000. In the decade from 1900 to 1910 
it never in any one year ran over 37,000 and 
averaged about 27,000 — in other words, it had 
declined, in spite of the increase in population and 
in the number of colonies, to one fifth of its former 
proportions. The figures have only a relative 
significance. The annual emigration from Bel- 
gium, for instance, which has little more than one 

96 



1896] BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS 

tenth the population of Germany, was considerably 
higher, averaging 35,000 annually for the years 
from 1906 to 1 9 10. The annual emigration from 
the United Kingdom to places outside of Europe 
in the same period was approximately 532,000 
annually. As, therefore, German emigration has 
in the last quarter century steadily declined, it 
may be safely inferred that the problem of finding 
colonies for her surplus population is not now, at 
least, a more pressing one for Germany than it 
was twenty-five years ago. 

A conscientious American student of con- 
temporary politics has said quite justly that "the 
most vital and burning problem in the world to- 
day" is the problem of Germany's Weltpolitik. 
It is not the purpose of this volume to enter into 
questions of controversy. He who wishes, how- 
ever, to understand Germany's position and the 
Emperor's position toward the world to-day must 
consider carefully not only the problem itself 
but some of its practical implications. In one of 
his bursts of enthusiasm the Emperor will tell 
us later* that this policy implies that no question 
in the world — no question of international politics, 
in other words — is to be decided without Germany. 
This would mean, strictly interpreted, that no 
transfer or change of status in colonial possessions — 
Cuba or the Philippines, for instance — no inter- 
national canal, like Panama, could be made with- 

* " Germany's greatness makes it impossible for her to do with- 
out the ocean — but the ocean also proves that even in the distance, 
and on its farther side, without Germany and the German Emperor 
no great decision dare henceforth be taken." (July 3, 1900.) 

97 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

out her sanction. And there are those in Germany, 
like Doctor Liman, who believe that this doctrine 
should have been more rigidly maintained than 
had hitherto been the case. A priori, Germany 
is, of course, as much entitled to the right to pursue 
such a policy as any other power. Ethically, how- 
ever — if ethics have any place in the discussion — 
it must be the result which justifies such a policy: 
not the results merely to the nation pursuing the 
policy but the results also to the nation or tribe 
at whose expense the policy is pursued. In the 
utilitarian phrase, it must redound to the greater 
good of the greater number. 

A dispassionate consideration of Prussia's treat- 
ment of her dependencies must convince any ex- 
cept the most partisan that her efforts here have 
been far less successful than those of most other 
nations, if they are not to be qualified as utter 
and absolute failures. Chancellor Caprivi had 
said quite justly that the worst blow an enemy 
could give him would be to force more territories 
in Africa upon him. Nevertheless, Germany has 
since Caprivi's time and at imminent risk of war 
acquired further African possessions. The attempt 
to colonize Africa, begun, as we have seen, by the 
Great Elector, was Germany's first venture in 
this field. Yet at no time did the Germans seem 
to get on well with the blacks. • In the Emperor's 
speeches to the Reichstag he has spoken of his de- 
sire to introduce Christian customs and Christian 
morality among the negroes. Yet his attempts 
here were hardly successful. The Herreros in 
Southwest Africa revolted and massacred Ger- 

98 



1896] BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS 

man colonists, sparing the Boers and English who 
had come before the German occupation. Doctor 
Gibbons tells us that the suppression of this rebel- 
lion took more than a year and cost Germany an 
appalling sum of money and many lives. But it 
cost the natives more. Two thirds of the nation 
of the Herreros were massacred, and, while only 
six or seven thousand were in arms, the German 
official report states that forty thousand were 
killed. The Germans confiscated all the lands of 
the natives. In 1906, after twenty-one years of 
German rule, there were in Southwest Africa 
sixteen thousand prisoners of war out of a total 
native population of thirty-one thousand. All 
the natives lived in concentration camps and 
were forced to work for the government. It may 
be conceded that Germany's problem here was a 
difficult one; it must also be recognized that her 
policy had been neither of advantage to the na- 
tives nor to Germany herself. 

In other cases, where the problem would seem to 
have been simpler, the results have likewise been 
disastrous. It is not our purpose to give the 
reasons but to state the facts. After one hundred 
and twenty-five years of incorporation into Prussia 
the Poles of East Prussia have in large part not 
been amalgamated and are still the victims of 
discriminatory legislation. In judging such a 
policy it is not merely a question as to whether 
Alsace-Lorraine, for instance, did or did not once 
belong to Germany. Morally it is difficult to con- 
cede to any nation the right to govern any popula- 
tion which it makes permanently unhappy. After 

99 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

forty-four years the problem of Alsace-Lorraine 
seemed to be very little nearer a solution than it 
was at its inception. It is a mistake to believe 
that the discontent was due principally to the 
fact that the inhabitants must transfer their al- 
legiance from France to Germany. The dis- 
content was due to the empire's refusal to give 
the population rights and status compatible with 
their self-respect as enlightened subjects of a 
twentieth-century government. Men of German 
as well as of French descent, and even German 
emigrants who were induced to settle in the prov- 
ince since 1870, took part in the opposition. In a 
recent haphazard list of the "real leaders" of 
Alsace-Lorraine, we find the following six names: 
Wetterle, Preiss, Blumenthal, Weber, Bucher, 
and Theodor. Of these the last five, at least, are 
wholly or in part of German descent. Yet the 
most serious demonstration in Metz since its an- 
nexation took place in June, 1910. On July 25 
of that same year, for the first time since the 
University of Strasburg had been re-established 
by the Germans, a professor was hissed out of his 
lecture-room; and, as we have seen, in spite of an 
energetic propaganda by German newspapers, in 
191 2 more Alsacians enlisted in the French For- 
eign Legion than in any single year since 1871. 
The situation in that province has been already 
discussed in connection with the Emperor's speech 
of March 14, 1891. Quite evidently, the problem 
there was hardly on the way to successful solution 
in August, 1914. Of course, Germany's success in 
colonizing is not the only question to be con- 

100 



1896] BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS 

sidered with regard to her Weltpolitik. It is, 
however, an essential factor. 

As will be evident from subsequent addresses, 
it was the Emperor who everywhere gave the 
initial impulse. Whether or not he involved him- 
self in contradictions here, the student must de- 
cide. To certain of his subjects he appeared to 
be doing so, and it was for this reason that one 
of his hostile critics, Doctor Liman, tells us in 
bitterness that German politics of the last twenty 
years is "a fantastic mixture of tearful longing 
for peace and an inflated desire for prestige." 
("Der Kaiser," p. 317.) The present empire had 
been proclaimed on the 18th of January, 1871, 
and the anniversary marked the crowning cele- 
bration of the year. In his speech the Emperor 
announces that "The German Empire has be- 
come a world-empire." This may be said to pro- 
vide the key to his subsequent policy and to mark 
the dawning of a new era. The address was de- 
livered at a dinner held in the Royal Palace. 

The present day, like the entire year in all its 
festivities, is a day of grateful retrospect. It is 
a continued high festival of gratitude for and in 
commemoration of the great departed Emperor. 
A blessing rests upon the present day, and over 
it hovers the spirit of him who lies in Charlotten- 
burg,* and of him who sleeps in the Friedens- 
kirche.f What our fathers had hoped and what 

* Emperor William I. t Emperor Frederick III. 

IOI 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

German youth in her dreams had sung and de- 
sired it was granted to them, the two Emperors, to 
achieve; working with the princes, it was granted 
to them to reconquer and re-establish the German 
Empire. We are privileged gratefully to enjoy its 
advantages; we have a right to rejoice on the pres- 
ent day. Nevertheless, it is our earnest duty to 
maintain what the great lords have won for us. 
The German Empire has become a world-empire. 
Everywhere in distant quarters of the earth thou- 
sands of our countrymen are living. German 
guardians, German science, German industry are 
going across the sea. The value of what Germany 
has upon the seas amounts to thousands of mil- 
lions. It is your earnest duty, gentlemen, to help 
to bind this greater German Empire firmly to 
our ancestral home. The vow which I made you 
to-day can become truth only if you are animated 
by a united patriotic spirit and grant me your 
fullest support. It is my wish that, standing in 
closest union, you help me to do my duty not only 
to my countrymen in a narrower sense but also 
to the many thousands of countrymen in foreign 
lands. This means that I may be able to protect 
them if I must. It is with this wish, and deeply 
conscious of the injunction which is issued to us 
all — "What you have inherited from your fathers, 
conquer it in order that you may possess it" — that 

I02 



1896] TO THE RECRUITS FOR THE NAVY 

I raise my glass to our beloved German Fatherland 
and call out: Long live the German Empire!— 
once again, may it live !— and a third time, long 
live the Empire! 



TO THE RECRUITS FOR THE NAVY 

WlLHELMSHAVEN, FEBRUARY 21, 1896 

On the occasion of administering the oath to 
the naval recruits at Wilhelmshaven the Emperor 
delivered the following address: 

In the sight of God and of His servants you have 
sworn to me the oath of allegiance, and I expect 
from you that you will become good and sturdy 
sailors. Keep to what you have sworn, for "one 
man, one word." The soldiers of the army fre- 
quently have the occasion to show what they have 
learned and what they are capable of under the 
eyes of their superiors. This is not true in the 
navy, for many of you will be for years in foreign 
waters. But you must not think that on that 
account my eyes have been turned away from you. 

In relation to other navies our own navy is still 
small, is in the budding stage; but through our 
discipline we must become strong and by it com- 
pensate for all that we lack in material strength. 
What is discipline? Nothing but the uncondi- 

103 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

tional subjection of our own will to a higher will. 
Even if every one intends to do good, he must 
none the less subordinate his intention to the good 
of the whole. Only by holding together can we 
create a firm body that will be able to accomplish 
something complete and great. 



A TOAST TO THE RUSSIAN EMPEROR AND 
EMPRESS 

St. Petersburg, August 8, 1897 

The visit which the Czar had paid Emperor 
William at Breslau the year before (September 5, 
1896) had led to unfortunate consequences. The 
Czar, in his answer to the wishes of the Emperor 
that the two empires might draw more closely 
together, had announced, according to the official 
report, that he was animated by the same tradi- 
tional sentiments as his Majesty, Emperor Wil- 
liam II. Certain important papers printed a 
reading which made it appear that the Czar had 
said that he shared the same feelings which had 
moved his father (who was notoriously anti- 
German). The State Secretary, Von Marschall, 
was drawn into an ugly suit as a result. It was 
stated that the Foreign Office was involved. Al- 
though this was not true, it left a decidedly bad 
impression, and several officials resigned. 

On the occasion of the visit of the German Em- 
peror and Empress to St. Petersburg they were 
greeted by a most friendly address of welcome 

104 



i897l A TOAST TO THE CZAR 

from the Czar, and Emperor William II was made 
an admiral of the Russian fleet. On this occasion 
he offered the following toast to the Russian Em- 
peror and Empress: 



In the name of her Majesty, the Empress, and 
in my own, I thank your Majesty warmly for the 
hearty and magnificent reception which you have 
given us and for the gracious words with which 
your Majesty has so lovingly bid us welcome. At 
the same time, with deep feeling I would like to 
lay at the feet of your Majesty my grateful ac- 
knowledgment for the renewed and unexpected 
distinction which your Majesty has conferred upon 
me in giving me a place in your glorious fleet. 
This is a particular honor, which I appreciate at 
its full significance and which is also a distinction 
conferred very particularly upon my navy. In 
my appointment as a Russian admiral I see not 
only an honor conferred upon my person but also 
a new evidence for the perpetuation of the close 
relationship, traditional and unshakable, which 
exists between our two empires. The unalterable 
decision of your Majesty to preserve now and 
hereafter peace for your people finds in me also 
a joyful echo, and wandering together in the same 
way we two shall strive in concert, under the bless- 
ing of this peace, to guide the cultural development 

105 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

of our peoples. My whole people is behind me, 
I know, as I confidently lay this renewed pledge 
in the hands of your Majesty — I shall bestow 
upon your Majesty my most powerful support 
and stand at your side with all my heart in this 
great work of preserving the peace for the nations 
and in directing my strength against any one who 
might attempt to disturb or break this peace. I 
drink to the health of their Majesties, the Emperor 
and the Empress ! [These last words the Emperor 
spoke in Russian.] 

THE ARMY TRADITION 

Coblentz, August 30, 1897 

On this date the Emperor reviewed the great 
parade of the Eighth Army Corps, under the 
leadership of the commanding general, the Grand 
Duke of Baden. At the dinner after the review 
the Emperor offered the following toast. The ad- 
dress illustrates what Doctor Liman calls the ro- 
manticism of the Emperor. He is easily impressed 
by his surroundings and speaks with particular 
animation and fervor on the occasions (and they 
are frequent) in which the memories of his ances- 
tors are brought back to him: 

A review in the Rhine country, what an en- 
trancing and what a beautiful picture ! But a 
review on the shores of the River Rhine itself, 

106 



i8 9 7l THE ARMY TRADITION 

and in sight of the old historic city of Coblentz — 
how this appeals to our hearts ! The sight of the 
soldierly sons of the Rhine country, under the 
command of your Royal Highness, has moved 
me to deep joy. But it moves me with deep sad- 
ness, likewise, for the place on which we stand 
and the city in which we tarry is a witness to 
a great time and reminds us of great names and 
figures. 

We, therefore, do not wish to forget that the 
time* which Emperor William the Great spent in 
Coblentz was of deepest significance, especially 
for us in the army. Here the work which he was 
called upon to carry through came to maturity; 
here it was granted him in quiet retirement to 
work out the organization of his army, which was 
often attacked with animosity and often misunder- 
stood but which has so magnificently justified it- 
self. His nation under arms has proved in three 
victorious wars that he was right. 

And now let us turn from our glance into the 
past to the present day. The splendid corps 
which I took from the hands of a general [Vogel 
von Falckenstein] whose name spelled bravery, 
whose conduct, chivalry, and whose life, fidelity on 
the battle-field and in peace, I have now given 
over to you, the grandson of the great Emperor, 

* 1850-7. 
107 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

the son* of the lofty Princess who would not 
be deprived of the pleasure of appearing here 
to-day and, in the spirit of her great departed 
mother, of celebrating and tarrying for a while 
with us in memories. 

The corps has been honored by the fact that 
his Royal Highness, the Duke of Cambridge, who 
was for a long time the highest in command of 
the brave British army, has decided to appear 
here and to lead before me his gallant historic reg- 
iment. I express my hearty thanks to your Royal 
Highness. The corps, is indeed, highly fortunate 
in this. We are privileged to greet in the noble 
person of your Royal Highness an associate, a con- 
temporary of our departed great Emperor, about 
whom I know particularly that he always spoke 
with deepest respect and greatest friendship of 
your Royal Highness, and that he always praised 
your Royal Highness's military achievements. 

My dear Fritz [turning to his Royal Highness, 
the hereditary Grand Duke], to-day's parade does 
you and the corps great honor in every respect, 

* The hereditary Grand Duke of Baden at this time was Frederick 
William, born July 9, 1857, son of the Grand Duke Frederick I and 
the Grand Duchess Louise-Marie, Princess of Prussia. The Grand 
Duchess Louise-Marie was the daughter of Emperor William I. 
The hereditary Grand Duke, who since the death of his father, in 
1907, has been reigning Grand Duke of Baden, is therefore a grand- 
son of William I and first cousin of the present Emperor, which will 
explain the somewhat unusual familiarity of the Emperor's address. 

108 



i897l A TOAST 

and we can say with a clear conscience that the 
sons of the Rhineland who have marched by 
to-day will do their duty as completely, and that 
they are as well trained and as brave as they were 
in the time of the great Emperor. It is our duty 
to maintain, in all its parts, the army, the work of the 
great Emperor, against every influence and to defend 
it against every opposition from without, and I hope 
that every general will be as faithful and as upright 
as you are, and that he will strive to achieve this aim 
in his field with as good results as you have done. 
With this hope I raise my glass and drink to 
the health of the Eighth Army Corps and its com- 
manding general. The Eighth Army Corps ! 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



TOAST TO THE ITALIAN KING AND QUEEN 

Homburg, September 4, 1897 

On this day the Emperor reviewed the Eleventh 
Army Corps, which was under the command of 
General von Wittich, in the presence of the Em- 
press and of the King and Queen of Italy. At the 
banquet which followed in the Castle of Hom- 
burg, the Emperor offered this toast: 

My Dear Wittich: 

I am happy to be able to express to you before 
our royal and princely guests and to the whole 

109 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

army corps my heartiest congratulations on this 
day. I am pleased to be able to say that the 
present day in its achievements does not suffer in 
the least by comparison with the day when, many 
years ago,* the corps defiled before my late grand- 
father, my dear father, and the late Grand Duke. 
I thank his Royal Highness, the Grand Duke, for 
the splendid division which he has led, and I am 
pleased to see him at the head of the magnificent 
troops which have done such great things under 
his father. 

A great honor has been conferred upon the 
corps through the fact that riding at the head of 
one of his regiments [13th Hessian Hussar Regi- 
ment] his Majesty, King Humbert of Italy, has 
led it before us. 

Your Majesty ! My army thanks your Majesty 
whole-heartedly for the great honor which has 
been conferred upon it. Not only my army but 
also the whole German Fatherland greets in the 
person of your Majesty the lofty prince, the close 
friend of my departed father, the faithful ally, 
whose coming here shows again to us and to the 
world that the bond of the triple alliance stands 
firm and inviolate, the triple alliance which was 
founded in the interest of peace and which, as 
time goes on, strikes deeper and firmer root in the 

* September 25, 1883. 

no 



i897l DEDICATION OF FLAGS 

consciousness of the peoples, in order finally to 
bring forth greater fruit. 

In deepest gratitude I bid the great Queen wel- 
come in the name of my people. We rejoice that 
she has not disdained to come here, leaving behind 
her her repose and her activities dedicated to art 
and literature, and that she should have graced 
with her fair presence this camp of our soldiers. 
Her Majesty is particularly dear and precious to 
us Germans, because she is like the image of the 
great constellation to which her people and Fa- 
therland look up with confidence; because the art- 
ist, the wise man, the musician, and the student 
always have free access to her, and because under 
the protection of her Majesty so many a German 
can fulfil his life devoted to learning and so many 
an invalid can go in search of his health to the 
beautiful sunny south. 

With a whole heart I bid you both welcome, 
and call out with my Eleventh Corps: Their 
Majesties, the King and Queen of Italy! — Hurrah ! 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



ADDRESS AT A DEDICATION OF FLAGS 

Berlin, October 18, 1897 

On this occasion sixty-three new flags were dedi- 
cated to the newly formed regiments of the guard, 

in 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

of the First to the Eleventh and of the Fifteenth 
to the Seventeenth Army Corps. The Emperor 
and people celebrate this anniversary of the battle 
of Leipzig, 1 813, with particularly patriotic demon- 
strations, and he almost invariably makes it the 
occasion for a military address. After the religious 
ceremony the Emperor addressed the following 
words to his troops: 

The flags which have just now been consecrated 
before the altar of God and which have received 
His blessing I now turn over to the new regiments 
which spring from their old and proved predeces- 
sors in accordance with the custom of our army, 
which forever renews itself and its youth out of 
the ranks of its older and proved regiments. I 
do this in a hallowed place, before the statue of 
the great King and before the windows of the 
great Emperor. If the site is holy, so too is the 
day. It is the anniversary of the great victory 
after which the German people for the first time 
dared look forward in prospect to the dawn of 
coming union and the future greatness which was 
conditioned thereby. The day on which, for 
everlasting memory, the October fires leap from 
Germany's hills is the birthday of the heroic first 
German Crown Prince and of the second German 
Emperor.* 

* Frederick III. 

112 



i8 9 7] ADMINISTERING OATH TO RECRUITS 

Out of the old and proved regiments which he 
led to battle and victory the shoots have been 
taken for these new ones to which I now turn over 
their field insignia. May Almighty God, who has 
ever been so faithful and well intentioned to our 
Prussia and to the whole German Fatherland, 
help always to maintain the vows of the thou- 
sands of German youths who shall stream from the 
circles of the people to these new flags and who 
before them shall swear their oath of allegiance ! 

I hope that in these regiments the qualities of 
the great Emperor will live on — the absolutely un- 
selfish devotion to the whole, the unreserved sacri- 
fice of one's own capacity, bodily as well as spiri- 
tual, for the honor of the army and for the safety 
of the beloved Fatherland. Then, I am convinced, 
will the foundations remain firm and intact in 
these new regiments, the foundations upon which 
the discipline of our army rests — bravery, sense of 
honor, and absolute and unconditional obedience. 

This is my wish for the new regiments. 



ON ADMINISTERING THE OATH TO THE 
RECRUITS 

Berlin, November 18, 1897 

After the administering of the oath to the re- 
cruits of the garrisons of Berlin, Charlottenburg, 

113 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

and Spandau by the representatives of the Evan- 
gelical and the Catholic churches, the Emperor 
took the occasion to deliver the following admo- 
nition : 

To-day I greet you as soldiers of my army, as 
grenadiers of my guard. With the oath to the 
flag you have sworn allegiance as German men, 
and even before the altar of God, under the open 
skies, and upon His crucifix, as good Christians 
must. He who is not a good Christian is not a 
brave man and no Prussian soldier; and he cannot 
fulfil under any circumstances what is demanded 
of a soldier in the Prussian army. 

Your duty is not easy; it demands of you self- 
control and self-abnegation, the two highest quali- 
ties of a Christian, and in addition unconditional 
obedience and subordination to the will of those 
who are appointed above you. 

But you have examples before you out of the 
history of the German army. Thousands before 
your time have sworn their oath and kept it. 
And because they did keep it our Fatherland has 
become great and our army victorious and uncon- 
querable. Because they kept their oath, their 
flags stand before you, garlanded with honor and 
covered with the tokens of glory, and wherever 
they are shown, heads are uncovered and regi- 
ments present arms. 

114 



i897l ADMINISTERING OATH TO RECRUITS 

In the time of your service temptation will 
surely draw near to many of you. If it does ap- 
proach, either with regard to your personal con- 
duct or with regard to your relationship as a 
soldier, turn it from you with the thought of the 
past of your regiments; turn it from you with the 
thought of your uniform, which is the uniform of 
your King. Whoever offends against the uniform 
of the King lays himself open to the most grievous 
punishments. Wear your uniform in such wise 
that you will compel respect from the world and 
from those who oppose you. 

My glorious ancestors look down upon you from 
the vaulted heavens. The monuments of the Kings 
look down upon you and, above all, the statue of 
the great Emperor. When you are discharging 
your service remember the grievous times through 
which our Fatherland had to pass; remember 
them when your labor seems heavy and bitter. 
Stand firm in your inviolable faith and trust in 
God who never forsakes us. Then will my army 
and especially my guard be equal to its task in all 
times, whether in peace or war. 

It is now your task to stand faithfully by me 
and to defend our highest possessions, whether 
against enemies from without or from within, and 
to obey when I command and never to forsake 
me. 

us 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

THE CHINESE SITUATION AND THE 
MAILED FIST 

December 15, 1897 

In accordance with her general colonial policy, 
Germany had for some time been attempting to 
obtain a footing in China. Already in 1895 the 
German consul-general had arranged an agree- 
ment with the Chinese authorities which was to 
allow the establishing of a base at Hangchow. 
German explorers had examined the coast and had 
noticed the favorable situation of the harbor of 
Kiaochow. In November, 1897, two German 
Catholic missionaries were murdered. Admiral 
Diedrichs, who is remembered in America for his 
interference with Admiral Dewey at Manila Bay, 
resolved upon immediate action, steamed into the 
harbor of Kiaochow and took possession of the 
island of Tsingtao. He announced the occupation 
of the bay and of all the islands and dependencies 
on November 15. An indemnity of 200,000 taels 
was demanded, as well as the repayment of the ex- 
penses of the occupation, a ninety-nine year lease 
of the captive territory, and the cession of all 
mining rights and railway privileges. All this was 
granted, and Germany made good use of her priv- 
ileges. At the outbreak of the European war 
the country had been developed and reclaimed 
to such a degree that Tsingtao with its buildings 
and forts looked like a bit of Prussia set into the 
Chinese coast. 

116 



i897l THE CHINESE SITUATION 

Through her occupation of this rich province 
and through the fact that Germany thus estab- 
lished a naval base opposite Japan's coast, she in- 
curred the ill will of Japan. This ill will was later 
to be increased through Germany's conduct with 
regard to commerce regulations. At the time of 
the occupation Germany declared that Tsingtao 
was to be a port open to all the world. Sub- 
sequent regulations which she had made amounted 
to very serious discrimination against the com- 
merce of other nations, especially that of the 
Japanese, which had already attained considerable 
importance. A plan was evolved in 1906 accord- 
ing to which Chinese customs duties were allowed 
to be collected in the colony in return for an annual 
consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent, 
of the entire customs duties of the Tsingtao dis- 
trict. In this way, what she allowed China to 
collect from German merchants she forced China 
to pay back to her. Other merchants were, of 
course, likewise forced to pay the duties, and Ger- 
many received a considerable percentage of the 
toll. The discrimination, if not obvious, was very 
real, and the feeling of the Japanese distinctly 
hostile. 

Prince Henry was sent out to take command of 
the increased East Asiatic Squadron on December 
16, 1897, and took command in the following 
March. On the eve of his departure a great fare- 
well dinner was given him in the Royal Palace at 
Kiel. The Emperor spoke as follows: 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

My Dear Henry: 

As I rode into Kiel to-day I thought of the 
many times on which I had visited this city joy- 
fully at your side and on my ships, either to be 
present at the sports or at some one of our military 
undertakings. On my arrival in the city to-day 
an earnest and deep feeling moved me, for I am 
perfectly conscious of the task which I have set 
before you and of the responsibility which I bear. 
But I am likewise conscious of the fact that it is 
my duty to build up and carry farther what my 
predecessors have bequeathed to me. 

The journey which you are to undertake and 
the task which you are to accomplish indicate 
nothing new in themselves; it is merely the 
logical consequence of what my departed grand- 
father and his great Chancellor inaugurated polit- 
ically and what our glorious father won with 
his sword on the field of battle. It is nothing 
more than the first expression of the newly united 
and newly arisen German Empire in its tasks be- 
yond the seas. The empire has developed so 
astonishingly through the extension of its com- 
mercial interests that it is my duty to follow up 
the new German Hansa and to give it the pro- 
tection which it has a right to expect from the 
empire and the Emperor. 

Our German brothers of the church who have 
118 



i8 9 7l THE CHINESE SITUATION 

gone out to their quiet work and have not spared 
risking their lives in order to spread and make a 
home for our religion on foreign soil have placed 
themselves under my protection, and it is now a 
question of providing support and safety for these 
brothers who have been so often insulted and op- 
pressed. For that reason the undertaking which 
I intrust to you and which you must fulfil in 
company with your comrades and the ships which 
are already out there is really one of protection 
and not one of defiance. Under the protecting 
banner of our German flag of war we expect that 
the rights which we are justified in demanding 
will be guaranteed to our commerce, to the German 
merchant, and to German ships — the same right 
which is vouchsafed by strangers to all other 
nations. 

Our commerce is not new; in old times the 
Hanseatic League was one of the most powerful 
enterprises which the world has ever seen, and 
the German cities were able to build a fleet such as 
the sea's broad back had never carried in earlier 
days, but finally it came to naught because the 
one condition was lacking, namely that of an 
Emperor's protection. Now things have changed; 
the first condition, the German Empire, has been 
created; the second condition, German commerce, 
flourishes and develops, and it can only develop 

119 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

properly and securely if it feels itself safe under 
the power of the empire. Imperial power means 
sea power, and sea power and imperial power are 
so interdependent that the one cannot exist with- 
out the other. 

As a token of this imperial sea power the squad- 
ron which has been strengthened by your division 
must now take its place, with all the comrades of 
the foreign fleet out there in close relationship and 
on good terms of friendship, but for the purpose 
of protecting our particular interests against every 
one who might be tempted to intrude upon the 
right of the Germans. That is your task and 
your mission. 

Make it clear to every European there, to the 
German merchant, and, above all things, to the 
foreigner in whose country we are or with whom 
we have to deal, that the German Michel* has 
set his shield, decorated with the imperial eagle, 
firmly upon the ground. Whoever asks him for 
protection will always receive it. And may our 
countrymen out there cherish the firm conviction, 
whether they are priests or merchants or whatever 
profession they follow, that the protection of the 
German Empire as exemplified in the Emperor's 

* The German Michel is the proverbial representative of the 
German character, as Uncle Sam is of the American or John Bull of 
the English. He is usually pictured as a simple, good-natured fellow. 

1 20 



i8 9 7] ADDRESS TO THE BODY-GUARD 

ships will continuously be granted them! But if 
any one should undertake to insult us in our rights 
or to wish to harm us, then drive in with the mailed 
fist and, as God wills, bind about your young brow 
the laurels which no one in the entire German 
Empire will begrudge you ! 

In the firm conviction that you, following good 
examples— and, God be praised, examples are not 
wanting in our house— will carry out my thoughts 
and wishes, I raise my glass and drink it to your 
health, with the wish for a good voyage, for a 
happy issue to your task, and for a joyous return. 
Long live his Royal Highness, Prince Henry! 
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! 



ADDRESS TO THE REGIMENTS OF THE 
BODY-GUARD 

Potsdam, June 16, 1898 

On the day of the tenth anniversary of his 
coming to the throne the Emperor assembled the 
regiments of the guard in the gardens of Potsdam 
and made them the following address: 

The most important heritage which my noble 
grandfather and father left me is the army, and 
I received it with pride and joy. To it I addressed 
my first decree when I mounted the throne. As 
I enter into the next decade of my reign I again 

121 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

address it in these words: You who are now as- 
sembled here constitute the 1st Infantry Regiment 
of the guard, in which I grew up; the Regiment 
of the Gardes du Corps, the most distinguished 
regiment of the cavalry body-guard of the Prussian 
Kings; the Hussar Regiment of the Body-Guard, 
which I have always commanded; and the Cadet 
Corps of the Infantry Battalion, which represents 
the entire army and which in Potsdam enjoys the 
honor of providing the guard for the King and his 
house. 

Perhaps never did an army suffer such severe 
loss as in the year 1888. Never has an army lost 
in the course of a single year two such powerful 
leaders crowned with laurel and honor, who were 
at the same time its war lords.* I look back 
gratefully upon the years which have passed 
since that time. 

Seldom has so difficult a task fallen to the lot 
of a successor who in a brief period had been 
forced to see both his grandfather and his father 
carried away by death. The crown was weighed 
down with heavy cares. Every one lacked con- 
fidence in me; everywhere I was falsely judged. 
One alone believed in me, one alone had faith — 

* It is interesting to note that the Emperor here himself ex- 
plicitly makes the distinction between commander of an army, 
Heerfiihrer, and war lord, Kriegsherr, a title which can only be be- 
stowed upon the Emperor. 

122 



1898] DEATH OF PRINCE BISMARCK 

that was the army. And leaning upon her, 
trusting upon our old guard, I took up my heavy 
charge, knowing well that the army was the main 
support of my country, the main support of the 
Prussian throne, to which the decision of God 
had called me. I therefore turn to you first to- 
day and express to you my congratulations and 
my gratitude, and in these expressions I include 
likewise with you all your brothers in the army. 
I am of the firm conviction that, through the self- 
sacrificing devotion of the officers and men in 
their faithful work of peace, the army during the 
last ten years has been maintained in the same 
condition in which I received it from my departed 
predecessors. 

In the next ten years, faithfully bound together, 
let us seek further the unconditional fulfilment of 
our duty in old and unremitting labor, and may 
the main supports of our army remain forever 
intact! They are courage, sense of honor, and 
unconditional, iron, blind obedience. 

That is my wish which I to-day address to you 
and with you to the entire army. 

ON THE DEATH OF PRINCE BISMARCK 

Friedrichsruh, August 2, 1898 

After the founding of the German Empire 
Prince Bismarck, who initiated and carried through 

123 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

many of the policies which brought great prosper- 
ity to the German people, was looked upon with 
much favor and enjoyed great popularity. Em- 
peror William II, as has been noted, dismissed him 
from his post as Imperial Chancellor in the second 
year of his reign. His attitude toward Bismarck 
has already been discussed (March 26, 1895). 
In most of his speeches which recount the prog- 
ress of the empire the Emperor is strangely silent 
about this great figure in German history. When 
Bismarck died, however (July 30, 1898), the Em- 
peror immediately interrupted his journey into 
the north and returned on the second of August to 
pay his respects at the bier of the first Imperial 
Chancellor in Friedrichsruh. On the same day he 
issued the following statement which appeared 
that evening in the special edition of the Reichsan- 
zeiger. 

It is noticeable that on this occasion the Em- 
peror speaks of his grandfather as "William the 
Great." His tendency to set his ancestors upon 
lofty pedestals and to praise them somewhat 
extravagantly finds expression in many of the 
speeches. He was very desirous of having his 
grandfather called by this title, and here as every- 
where took the initiative. His lead, however, 
was not generally followed. When the city of 
Hamburg erected a monument to William I the 
pedestal was left without an inscription. This 
has been explained by the fact that they were un- 
willing to say, "William the Great," and afraid 
to say merely, " William I." 

124 



i8 9 8] DEATH OF PRINCE BISMARCK 

With my lofty peers and with the whole Ger- 
man people I stand in mourning at the bier of 
the first Chancellor of the German Empire, 
Prince Otto von Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg. 
We who were witnesses of his masterly work, who 
looked upon him as the master of statecraft, as 
the fearless champion in war as in peace, as the 
most devoted son of his Fatherland and most 
faithful servant of his Emperor, are deeply shaken 
by the demise of the man in whom the Lord God 
created the implement with which to carry into 
effect the deathless idea of Germany's union and 
greatness. 

At this moment it is not fitting to recount all 
the deeds which the great departed accomplished, 
all the cares which he bore for the Emperor and 
the empire, all the successes which he won. They 
are too powerful and manifold, and only history 
can and will engrave them upon her brass tab- 
lets. 

But I feel constrained to make some expres- 
sion before the world of the whole-hearted grief 
and grateful reverence which to-day fill the en- 
tire nation and, in the name of the nation, to make 
a vow that what he, the great Chancellor, built 
up under Emperor William the Great I shall 
maintain and develop and, if need be, defend with 
our possessions and our blood. 

125 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

In this may the Lord God help us ! 

I commission you to bring to public attention 
this, my decree. 

William, I. R. 
To the Imperial Chancellor. 



"OUR FUTURE LIES UPON THE WATER" 

Stettin, September 23, 1898 

A previous address shows that in the mind of 
the Emperor the idea of world-empire carried 
with it the idea of naval supremacy. In this 
period he was increasingly interested in the in- 
dustrial and especially the naval and maritime 
expansion of Germany. A number of his speeches 
take up this subject; so, for instance, he was pres- 
ent at the opening of the new harbor at Stettin 
and delivered this address: 

With full heart I congratulate you on your 
completed work. You began with a fresh spirit 
of daring. You were able to begin it, thanks to 
the interest of my departed grandfather, the great 
Emperor, who built the iron girdle around the 
city. After the moment when this iron mantle 
fell you could take a larger and wider point of 
view. You did not delay but carried it out 
with real Pomeranian recklessness and obstinacy. 
You have succeeded, and I am pleased that the 

126 




"OUR FUTURE LIES UPON THE WATER" 
The Emperor on Shipboard in the Autumn of 1898 



1898] JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND 

old Pomeranian spirit has again come to life in 
you and has driven you from the land upon the 
water. 

Our future lies upon the water, and I am deeply 
convinced that this work which you, Herr Burgo- 
master, have carried out with foresight and care 
and energy will always be linked with your name, 
even after centuries, by the grateful citizens of 
the city of Stettin and that your work will always 
be recognized. 

But I, as lord of the land and King, express 
my thanks to you that you have brought the city 
of Stettin to such a flourishing position. I hope 
and expect, yes, I might say, I demand, that she 
shall go on developing at this same rate, not 
divided by party strife and with her glance fixed 
upon the great whole, in order that she may come 
to a state of development such as has never yet 
been achieved. That is my wish ! 

THE JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND 

Bethlehem, October 30, 1898 

On the 1 2th of October, 1898, the Emperor and 
Empress set out on their journey to the Holy 
Land, accompanied by many representatives of 
the church. In Venice they visited the Italian 
King and Queen and passed on by way of Mes- 
sina and Constantinople. They reached Jerusalem 

127 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

on October 29. During his stay at Constantinople 
the Emperor obtained the rights to a piece of 
land, the Dormitio Sanctce Firginis, and turned it 
over to the German Catholics in Jerusalem. On 
November 4 they began their return journey via 
Damascus. Though the dedication of the Church 
of Our Redeemer constituted the ostensible object 
of the visit, the Emperor had also other purposes 
in mind. He took the occasion to announce that 
he would protect the interests of all Germans of 
whatever faith. This is the more significant when 
we remember that up to this time the French had 
always been allowed to assume the duty of pro- 
tecting the Catholics there. The Emperor like- 
wise had in mind increasing his prestige in the 
East. One of the outward indications of the 
growing friendliness between Turkey and Germany 
which was then strengthened may be found in 
the fact that the building of the Anatolian rail- 
way was intrusted to a German company, to 
which was also granted a concession for a harbor 
and permission to extend the line through Bagdad 
to Bassora. 

It will be noted that the approach to Jerusalem 
aroused a very unfavorable impression in the Em- 
peror. Nevertheless, he had somewhat unusual 
preparations made for his entrance. The old walls 
of the sacred city were breached in order to allow 
him to make his entry in imperial state. In 
pursuance of his policy as a world-emperor he 
attempted during his visit, as we have seen, both 
by his acts and by his speeches, to conciliate all 
sects and creeds; the Catholics through the grant 

128 



i8 9 8] JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND 

of land, which likewise pleased the Centre or 
Catholic party at home; the Evangelicals through 
the dedication of a church; and the Moslems 
incidentally and through his speech nine days 
later at Damascus, in the course of which he said: 
"May the Sultan and may the three hundred mil- 
lion Mohammedans who are scattered over the 
face of the earth and who recognize him as their 
caliph be assured of the fact that at all times the 
German Emperor will be their friend !" This 
friendship of the Emperor for the Sultan was not 
to be clouded by the Armenian massacres, nor 
did the assassinations in Asia Minor evoke any 
protest. Indeed, we are told by a well-known 
foreign correspondent that "five days after the 
great massacre of August, 1896, in Constantinople, 
when Turkish soldiers shot down their fellow 
citizens under the eyes of the Sultan and of the 
foreign ambassadors, William II sent to Abdul- 
Hamid for his birthday a family photograph of 
himself with the Empress and his children." At 
Damascus, he likewise laid a wreath upon the 
tomb of Saladin. 

After the service in the Evangelical Church at 
Bethlehem the Emperor gathered about him the 
Evangelical ministers and made them this address, 
which was reported by E. Bosse, who at that time 
was the Prussian Kultus minister. 

If I am to give you the impressions of these last 
days, then I must tell you that, above all, I am 
very much disappointed. I did not wish to say 

129 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

that here, but after I had heard that the same thing 
had happened to others also, and among them to 
my court chaplain, for instance, I no longer wish 
to hide this from you. It may, indeed, be that 
the very unfavorable approach to the city of 
Jerusalem has contributed to this impression, 
but when one sees such conditions in the holy 
places and sees how things happen there it cuts 
one to the quick. 

That the emanation of the love of the Creator 
took place here where we are now standing is a 
fact of extraordinary import, and yet how little 
does it correspond to what we have seen ! I am, 
therefore, doubly pleased to have received my 
first elevating impression in the Holy Land at 
this service among you. The particular example 
of Jerusalem warns us insistently that we must 
suppress as far as possible the slight deviations in 
our sects, and that the Evangelical Church and 
the Evangelical creed must put forward a firmly 
united front here in the East. Otherwise we 
can accomplish nothing. We can only work 
through example, through the practice and proof 
that the gospel is a gospel of love in all quar- 
ters of the heavens and that it bears other 
fruits. 

Only the life of Christians can make any im- 
pression upon the Mohammedans. No one can 

130 



1898] JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND 

criticise them if they have little respect for the 
Christian name. Our churches divide against 
each other. Indeed, they must be restrained from 
quarrelling through the external power of arms. 
In the political world, under all possible pretexts 
we take away from them [the Mohammedans] 
one piece of territory after another, for which we 
have no justification, so that our influence has 
been much weakened and we have fallen to a very 
low level. 

And now it is our turn ! The German Empire 
and the German name have now won a considera- 
tion in the entire Ottoman Empire such as has 
never existed before. It is, therefore, for us to 
show what the Christian religion really is, that 
the practice of Christian love even toward the 
Mohammedan, not through dogmas and attempts 
at conversion but merely through example, is 
our plain duty. The Mohammedan is a very 
zealous believer, so that preaching alone will not 
suffice. But our culture, our institutions, the life 
which we live before them, the manner of our con- 
duct toward them, and the proof that we are 
united among ourselves, these alone will have 
effect. 

It is a kind of examination which we must pass 
for our Protestant faith and our creed. Through 
this we must give them proof of what Christianity 

131 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

is. In this way we may inspire in them an inter- 
est for our religion and for the Christian creed. 
See to it that this remains so ! 



DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF OUR 
REDEEMER 

Jerusalem, October 31, 1898 

The Church of Our Redeemer at Jerusalem was 
dedicated in the presence of the Emperor by the 
general superintendent and head court chaplain, 
Doctor Dryander, of Berlin. The church had 
been planned by King Frederick William IV. 
After the dedication there was a special church 
service, and after the prayer by the general super- 
intendent the Emperor offered the following ad- 
dress: 

God has been gracious enough to allow us to 
dedicate in this city, which is holy to all Chris- 
tians, and in this place, which is consecrated by 
labors of true love, a house of worship which we 
have built to honor the Saviour of the world. 
Through the building and dedication of the Church 
of Our Redeemer there has now come to success- 
ful issue a plan which my blessed predecessors 
cherished for more than half a century and sought 
to carry out as the protectors of the work of love 
which was founded here in Evangelical interests. 

132 



i8 9 8] DEDICATION OF A CHURCH 

Through the saving power of the love which 
serves, all hearts should now here be brought to 
the consideration of those things in which alone 
the troubled human spirit may find salvation, 
rest, and peace here and hereafter. 

All Evangelical Christians, even far beyond 
Germany's borders, are following our service here 
with closest interest and sympathy. The dele- 
gates of the Evangelical congregation and many 
who share the Evangelical faith from all parts of 
the world have come with us to this place in order 
to be personal witnesses to the completion of this 
work of faith and love through which the name of 
our great Lord and Saviour is to be glorified and 
the kingdom of God upon earth to be advanced. 

Jerusalem, the lofty city on which our feet are 
standing, calls to mind memories of the great act 
of redemption of our Lord and Saviour. She shows 
us the common labor which unites all Christians, 
regardless of confessions and nations, in the apos- 
tolic faith. 

The power which renewed the world through 
the gospel which originated here drives us to fol- 
low Him; it warns us to look up in faith to Him 
who died for us upon the cross. It warns us to be 
patient Christians and to carry out the doctrine of 
unselfish love of our neighbor in regard to all men. 
It promises us also that if we hold firm to the true 

i33 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

teaching of the gospel even the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against our dear Evangelical Church. 

It was in Jerusalem that was born the Light of 
the World, in whose splendor our German people 
has grown great and powerful. What the Ger- 
manic peoples have become they have become 
under the protection of the cross upon Golgotha 
and through the practice of self-sacrificing love 
of their neighbors. Just as two thousand years 
ago, so to-day that call, "Peace upon earth," 
which voices the earnest hopes of us all, should 
go forth to all the world. 

Not splendor, not might, not glory, not honor, 
not earthly goods it is that we seek here. We 
pant, beseech, and strive only for the one highest 
good, the salvation of our souls, and as I now on 
this solemn day here repeat the vow of my an- 
cestors who are resting in God, "I and my house, 
we will serve the Lord," so I ask you all to make 
the same vow. Let every one seek according to 
his position and his calling to bring it about that 
all those who bear the name of the crucified Lord 
will live their lives under the sign of His holy 
name to a victory over all the dark powers which 
are begotten in sin and selfishness. 

May God grant that rich streams of blessing 
may flow back from here into united Christendom, 
and that on the throne as in the hut, that at home 

i34 



i8 9 8] BY DIVINE RIGHT 

as abroad, trust in God, love of our fellows, pa- 
tience in affliction, and thorough labor may re- 
main the brightest jewels of the German people, 
and that the spirit of peace may permeate and 
hallow the Evangelical Church more and more. 

He, the God of grace, will hear our prayers; 
that is our expectation. He alone is the strong and 
safe retreat upon which we build. 

" Did we in our own strength confide, 
Our striving would be losing; 

Were not the right man on our side, 
The man of God's own choosing. 

Dost ask who that may be ? 

Christ Jesus, it is He; 

Lord Sabaoth His name, 

From age to age the same, 
And He must win the battle." * 



BY DIVINE RIGHT 

Brandenburg, February 3, 1899 

There is a particular whole-heartedness notice- 
able in all of the Emperor's speeches to his heredi- 
tary subjects, the Brandenburgers. He seemed 
to take them most fully into his confidence and 
expect from them a higher degree of loyalty and 
understanding. For them he felt a particular 
kinship. His personal pretensions are, therefore, 

* Luther's "Ein' Feste Burg," translated by F. H. Hedge. 
135 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

set forth in these speeches and in those to the 
Prussians, as for instance in his Konigsberg speech 
(August 25, 1910) with less reserve than usual, 
if we may speak of reserve in one who shows but 
little and who is unusually frank and personal 
in his statements. It is for this reason that these 
speeches have occasionally been severely criticised 
by his South German subjects, as for instance by 
Doctor Liman in his "Der Kaiser." This address 
was delivered by the Emperor at a banquet which 
was given by Doctor von Achenbach, Oberprdsi- 
dent of Brandenburg Province and Minister of 
State, to the members of the Provincial Assembly. 
The wording is taken from the " Reichsanzeiger" 
The historical facts here referred to will be found 
in chapter I. 

My Honored President and Dear Men of 
Brandenburg: 
The speech which we have just heard has laid 
before us in small compass and in patriotic spirit, 
embellished with poetic flights, the deeds of my 
house and the history of our people. I think 
that I speak from the heart of all of you when I 
say that there were two circumstances which made 
it possible for my ancestors and my house to dis- 
charge their tasks in this way. The first and 
prime circumstance was the fact that, above all 
other princes, and even in a time when perhaps 
such thoughts and feelings were not yet current, 

136 



i8 99 ] BY DIVINE RIGHT 

they felt and discharged the personal responsibility 
of the ruler toward Heaven. The second circum- 
stance is the fact that they had behind them the 
people of the mark. Let us look back to the time 
when Frederick I had been named Elector and 
when he exchanged his magnificent Frankish 
home country for the mark, which at that time 
was in a condition which we can hardly picture to 
ourselves even from the description of historians. 
We can only understand this exchange on the 
assumption that the ruler felt within himself the 
call to journey to this land, which had been in- 
trusted to him by the imperial protection in order 
here to bring about a better-ordered condition, 
not only for the Emperor's sake or for his own 
sake, but he was convinced that the task had been 
given him from above. 

The same conviction we shall find in all of my 
ancestors. Their great battles without and the 
development and the making of laws within 
the country have always been dictated by the 
thought that they were responsible for the people 
given over to them and for the country which had 
been intrusted to them. 

Your President has been kind enough to men- 
tion our journey to Palestine and the acts which I 
accomplished there. I dare say that many dif- 
ferent impressions of a lofty nature forced them- 

137 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

selves upon me, and they were partly religious, 
partly historical, and partly drawn from modern 
life, but aside from the celebration in our church 
(October 31, 1898), the loftiest and the deepest 
was the consciousness that I was standing on the 
Mount of Olives, that I was treading upon the 
very place where the greatest battle which was 
ever fought out upon the earth, the battle for the 
salvation of mankind, had been fought out by our 
Saviour. This fact moved me, as it were, on that 
same day to renew my oath to the flag above 
that I would leave nothing untried in order to 
unite my people and to push aside whatever might 
be able to divide it. 

But as I was tarrying in the far country, and in 
different places where we Germans feel so keenly 
the lack of dear woods and beautiful waters, I 
remembered the lakes of the mark with their dark, 
clear waves, and the woods of oak and of fir, and I 
thought to myself that, although in Europe they 
sometimes looked down upon us, we are none the 
less much better off in Brandenburg than in for- 
eign countries. And when I think of the tree and 
of the use we make of it and our love for the 
woods I am reminded of an incident that is very 
interesting for us as we begin to develop the 
empire. 

It was after the great and noble achievements 
138 



1899] BY DIVINE RIGHT 

of the year 1 870-1. The troops had returned 
home; the tumult and the enthusiasm had sub- 
sided, and the old work of founding and developing 
our newly conquered Fatherland was now to begin. 
There, for the first time, the three paladins of the 
great old Emperor, the great General,* the power- 
ful Chancellor,! and the faithful Minister of War,! 
were sitting together at their common meal. 
After they had emptied the first glass to the Lord 
of the Land and to the Fatherland, the Chancellor 
spoke and turning to his two colleagues said: 
"We have now achieved everything for which we 
have striven, suffered, and fought. We have 
reached the highest point of which we had ever 
dreamed. What can there now be, after what we 
have lived through, which shall interest or elevate 
or inspire us ?" There was a pause and then the 
old master of battles said suddenly, "We can 
watch the tree grow," and a deep silence fell upon 
the room. 

Yes, gentlemen! The tree which we watch 
growing and for which we must care is the German 
imperial oak. A healthy growth is in store for it 
because it stands under the protection of the 
people of the mark in whose land it is rooted. 
It has lived through many a storm and has often 
been threatened, but the stalk and the shoot which 

* Moltk e- t Bismarck. J Roon . 

139 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

are sunk in the sands of the mark will, God willing, 
endure to all eternity ! 

I can merely vow once again to-day to do every- 
thing for it that is in my power! And even the 
journey to hallowed shrines and places will help me 
in this, and I shall be better able, therefore, to pro- 
tect this tree and to watch and foster it, cutting 
back like a good gardener the branches which are 
superfluous, and keeping watch upon and exter- 
minating the animals which would gnaw at its 
roots. I hope that I may then see this picture. 
The tree will have developed gloriously and before 
it the German Michel will be standing, his hand 
upon his sword, and looking out into the distance 
in order to protect it. That peace stands firm 
which stands under the shield and under the sword 
of the German Michel. 

It is a magnificent thing to begin with the idea 
of bringing peace to all the nations; but an error 
is likely to slip into our calculations. So long as 
there is unregenerate sin in humanity, so long 
there will be war and hatred, envy and discord, 
and one man will try to take advantage of another. 
But the rules which govern men govern nations 
also. Therefore we must see to it that we Ger- 
mans, at least, stand together like a firm block. 
Far beyond the seas* and here in Europe, may 

* The Spanish-American War was ended by treaty December 
10, 1898. 

140 



1899] THE HAGUE CONFERENCE 

every wave that threatens peace break upon this 
"rocher de bronze" of the German people ! But it is 
the mark and its inhabitants first of all which are 
called upon to help me in this, and as I assume 
that it is not hard for you to follow the black and 
white banner and your red one,* so I hope that I 
shall be understood by you when I say that I in- 
tend to look for aid to the mark now and here- 
after, and that I count upon its loyal support ! 
Therefore I raise my glass and call out: Long 
live Brandenburg and the inhabitants of the 
mark. Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



THE HAGUE CONFERENCE 

Wiesbaden, May 18, 1899 

On the Czar's birthday the Emperor was present 
at the banquet given in Wiesbaden, to which the 
Russian Ambassador, Count Osten-Sacken, had 
been invited. The Emperor proposed the follow- 
ing toast. On the same day the peace conference 
at The Hague had been opened and the Russian 
delegate De Staal had been elected its president. 
At the end of August, 1898, the Russian Minister 
for Foreign Affairs had issued the following com- 
munication to all the representatives of the powers 
in St. Petersburg. "The maintenance of universal 
peace and a possible reduction of the armaments 

* The flag of Brandenburg is a red griffin on a white field. 
141 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

which burden all nations in the present state of 
civilization is an ideal for all the world toward 
which all governments must be directed/' The 
Czar believed that a conference might achieve 
this object, and he suggested that they might 
regulate the reduction of armaments all around 
and eliminate many of the horrors of war through 
the establishment of certain humane principles. 
The programme was presented by Russia on Janu- 
ary ii, 1899, and the conference was called on her 
invitation for May 18 of that year. 

Every year I offer my toast to the health of his 
Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, with deep feeling. 
To-day I add to it my heartiest good wishes for 
the success of the conference which owes its incep- 
tion to his Majesty's initiative. 

My honored Baron, my wish includes the hope 
that the two tried and experienced statesmen, 
his Excellency Baron de Staal and Count Miin- 
ster, may succeed in their efforts and that they 
may conduct the conference on the old, established 
tradition which unites my house to that of his 
Majesty and the German people to the Russian; 
and by doing so, in accordance with the exactly 
similar orders which the Emperor and I have 
issued, that the conference may result to the en- 
tire satisfaction of his Majesty. 

His Majesty, the Emperor Nicholas! Hurrah ! 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 

142 



1899] FRENCH HEROISM AT ST. PRIVAT 
THE HOUSING OF LABORERS 

Early June, 1899 

Kadinen is one of the Emperor's many farming 
estates and is situated in the neighborhood of 
Elbing, in East Prussia. It was here that he ex- 
pressed the following sentiment: 

Many things must be changed at Kadinen; 
especially the housing of the laborers must be 
changed. Here in the east this seems still to be 
a particular evil. The fine cattle stable in Kadinen 
is a veritable palace compared to the homes of 
the laborers. We must see to it that the pigsties 
are not better than the laborers' houses. 



FRENCH HEROISM AT ST. PRIVAT 

The Battle-Field of St. Privat, August 18, 1899 

The following noble address of the Emperor's 
was delivered at the dedication of the monument 
to the soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the Guard, 
who fell in the battle of St. Privat (August 18, 
1870). In it he speaks of the splendid heroism of 
the French troops who were fighting for their 
Emperor. It should be remembered that the mon- 
ument was erected in the provinces which had 
been conquered from France by Germany. At 
this time the Emperor had adopted a conciliatory 
attitude toward the inhabitants of these provinces. 

143 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

(See speech of March 14, 1891.) If, therefore, it 
may seem ungracious, it is nevertheless merely 
just to call attention to the fact that when he later 
(March 28, 1901) presented a painting of the 
battle of St. Privat to the Alexander Regiment 
of the Guard in Berlin he did not mention French 
heroism and speaks a different language. 

Serious and solemn memories surround this day 
and make our hearts beat high. My 1st Infantry 
Regiment of the Guard is represented here by my 
company of the Body-Guard, by its glorious flags, 
and by many old comrades who once fought and 
bled in this place. They are to-day to unveil this 
monument to their fallen comrades. This cere- 
mony will take place in the presence of my young- 
est regiment,* and the troops of the Fourteenth 
Army Corps, which represent the entire German 
army. 

It has been almost the only regiment which up 
to the present has not been represented by a monu- 
ment in this place, where so much blood was shed, 
and yet it had full claim to be thus commemorated. 
Through its history it is closely associated with my 
house, and it is called upon to train its Princes 
and Kings, and may therefore be properly re- 
garded as a family and a house regiment. Never- 
theless, my imperial grandfather did not hesitate 

* Infantry Regiment No. 145, garrisoned at Metz. 
144 



1899] FRENCH HEROISM AT ST. PRIVAT 

a moment to hazard these troops, which were so 
dear to him, for the good of the Fatherland. 

History teaches us how the regiment fought and 
bled and respected its oath to the flag and how its 
conduct, its sufferings, and its losses won the 
praise and the tears of the great Emperor. 

With me as its oldest comrade the regiment now 
erects this shaft to the memory of the heroes that 
rest beneath the green sod. The form of the 
monument differs from that which is usually found 
on battle-fields. The archangel in armor, peace- 
fully at rest, is leaning upon his sword, which is 
decorated with the proud motto of the regiment, 
"Semper talis. 99 * I therefore wish that a general 
significance should be attached to this figure. It 
stands upon this bloody field as the guardian of all 
the brave soldiers, both the French and our own, 
who fell here. For bravely and heroically the 
French soldiers sank to their honored graves, 
fighting for their Emperor and their Fatherland. 
And if our flags touch each other as they are 
lowered before the bronze monument and sadly 
rustle over the graves of our dear comrades, may 
they also wave over the graves of our opponents 
and whisper to them that in reverent sorrow we 
remember the brave dead! 

* By an unfortunate error Penzler prints the motto as "Semper 
talio" — "Retaliation forever." The reading has been changed, as the 
motto of the regiment is in reality "Semper talis" — "Ever the same." 

145 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug., 1899 

Let us look up to the Lord of Hosts and thank 
Him for the guidance graciously given to our 
great Emperor. Let us picture to ourselves to-day 
that the souls of all those who once opposed each 
other in fierce conflict upon this field are now 
gathered about the throne of the Supreme Judge 
and that, united in the everlasting peace of God, 
they now look down upon us. 



146 



V 
THE GREATER NAVY 

Many of the speeches which follow will be 
found to bear upon the question of increasing the 
navy, and from this time forth, for various reasons, 
that idea will be uppermost in the Emperor's 
mind. His statement that he had, from the first, 
strongly urged an increase in the navy must be 
accepted with certain reserves. Such increases as 
were suggested were slight as compared to the 
programmes now to be urged, and his speeches of 
that time give little evidence of any particular 
insistence or disappointment at his failure in this 
regard. He really begins to preach the need of 
the greater navy insistently in the last years of 
the century, and his present statement, "Bitterly 
do we need a powerful German fleet," is his sharp- 
est pronouncement up to this time. It takes on 
an added significance if we remember that it was 
made nine days after the Boer ultimatum which 
began the Boer War had been despatched. In 
this connection it is well to read the telegram sent 

i47 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

to President Kriiger, printed with the Daily Tele- 
graph interview (October 28, 1908). 

William II had in 1889 divided the admiralty 
and appointed a naval officer to act as head of 
the organization and development of the fleet. It 
was only in the late nineties, however, after the ap- 
pointment of Admiral Tirpitz, that this work began 
to go forward with leaps and bounds. That Ger- 
man sentiment was quick to follow the lead of the 
Emperor is shown by the immense enthusiasm 
which has made the German Navy League (or- 
ganized in 1898) so great a success. In 1907 it 
already counted a million paying members, and 
its journal, Die Flotte, had a circulation of over 
370,000 copies, which is about as large as that of 
nearly all other important German monthlies com- 
bined.* Shortly after the disaster of Spion Kop 
Admiral Tirpitz spoke thus: "We do not know 
what adversary we may have to face. We must 
therefore arm ourselves with a view to meeting 
the most dangerous naval conflict possible." The 
preamble to the German navy bill of 1900 reads: 
"Germany must have a fleet of such strength that 
a war against the mightiest power would involve 
risks threatening the supremacy of that power." 
Emperor William protests, and there is no reason 

* These are the figures given by J. Ellis Barker in "Modern 
Germany." 

148 



THE GREATER NAVY 

for doubting his sincerity, that this policy of in- 
creasing the navy was not primarily directed at 
England. It was necessary to protect Germany's 
commerce and increase her prestige. On this 
point his famous interview given to the Daily 
Telegraph is interesting. Undoubtedly, however, 
this rapid increase in the navy, which began with 
the navy bill of 1900 and which happened to 
coincide with the events of the Boer War, did much 
to heighten the ill feeling which had already be- 
gun to spring up between England and Germany. 
The idea of increasing the navy met with more 
general support among the people than any other 
policy of the Emperor's, though it called for very 
decided increases in taxation. How keen was 
the Emperor's personal interest in the matter we 
may judge from the fact that in 1897 ne sent to 
all the members of the Reichstag and innumerable 
other officials a memorandum comparing the 
naval strength of Germany, France, Russia, 
America, and Japan. The appropriation bill of 
that year calling for 240,000,000 marks was voted 
with a slight reduction. The sense that the 
struggle for naval supremacy with England was 
impending made necessary immensely larger ap- 
propriations in the bill of 1900. 



149 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

"BITTERLY WE NEED A POWERFUL 
GERMAN FLEET" 

Hamburg, October 18, 1899 

The Kaiser Karl der Grosse was launched in 
Hamburg on the 18th of October, 1899. It will 
be noticed that the Emperor is always careful to 
observe the anniversaries that commemorate the 
military prowess, the birthdays, and the achieve- 
ments of the members of his house. The present 
date is again an anniversary of the battle of 
Leipzig, 1 81 3. In the evening the Emperor spoke 
as follows at the banquet in the Rathaus: 

It is with particular pleasure that I find myself 
among you again on this historic anniversary. 
It always gives me new strength and vigor when 
I feel around me the dashing spray and bubbling 
life of one of the cities of the Hanseatic League. 
It was a solemn act that we have just witnessed 
when we gave over to its element a new portion of 
the floating defense of the Fatherland. Every one 
who was present must have been impressed with 
the thought that the proud ship would soon be 
able to take up its calling. We feel its lack, and 
bitterly do we need a powerful German fleet. 

Its name reminds us of the first glorious days of 
the old empire and of its mighty protector. The 
first beginnings of Hamburg date from that time, 

150 



1899] "WE NEED A POWERFUL FLEET" 

even though it was merely the point of departure 
for the missions in the service of the powerful 
Emperor. Now our Fatherland has been newly 
united through Emperor William the Great and 
is in a position to take up its glorious outward 
development. And right here in this great em- 
porium of trade we feel the sense of power and 
energy which the German people are capable of 
putting into their enterprises through the fact 
that they are bound together and united. But 
here, too, we can most readily understand how 
necessary it is that we should have powerful sup- 
port and that we can no longer continue without 
increasing our fighting strength upon the seas. 

But this feeling penetrates all too slowly into 
the German Fatherland, which unfortunately 
wastes its strength in fruitless party strife. I 
have had to watch with deep concern how slow 
is the progress of interest in, and political com- 
prehension of, the great world problems among 
the German people. 

If we look about us we can see how in the last 
few years the face of all the world has been 
changed. Old world empires are disappearing and 
new ones are arising. Nations have appeared 
among the peoples and are taking their place in the 
competition — nations which previously the layman 
had scarcely noticed. Events which change the 

151 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

whole field of international relationships and the 
whole field of our national economy, and which 
formerly were accomplished only in the course 
of centuries, now take place in a few months. 
Through this fact the tasks of the German Empire 
and the German people have grown greatly in ex- 
tent and demand from me and my government 
extraordinary and serious efforts. They can be 
crowned with success only if the Germans stand 
behind us firmly united and give up their party 
divisions. But our people must make up their 
minds to make sacrifices. Above all things, it 
must give up the attempt to find the highest by 
dividing itself more and more sharply into parties. 
It must cease to put the party above the good of 
the nation. It must put a check upon its old he- 
reditary failing to make everything the occasion 
of unrestrained criticism, and it must realize the 
boundaries which its own vital interests draw for 
it. For it is precisely these old political sins which 
are now being visited upon our interests on the sea 
and upon our fleet. I insistently requested and 
warned that it must be strengthened in the first 
eight years of my reign, and if these requests had 
not been continually refused, and refused in ways 
which heaped scorn and ridicule upon me, we 
would have been able to advance our growing 
trade and our oversea interests far differently. 

152 



1899] "WE NEED A POWERFUL FLEET" 

But my hopes that the German will choose the 
manlier way have not yet disappeared, for in him 
love of the Fatherland is great and powerful. The 
October fires which to-day he lights upon the hills 
and by which he celebrates the noble figure of the 
Emperor* who was born on this day bear eloquent 
witness to this fact. 

And, in fact, Emperor Frederick with his great 
father and his great paladins did help to build a 
wonderful edifice and left it to us as the German 
Empire. It stands before us in glory, as it had 
been yearned for by our fathers and celebrated 
by our poets ! Let us no longer, therefore, as 
heretofore, dispute uselessly as to how the partic- 
ular rooms, halls, and apartments of this building 
are to look or how they are to be furnished; but 
may the people, burning like these October fires 
with an ideal enthusiasm, strive to follow its ideal 
second Emperor, and above all things let it re- 
joice in the beautiful edifice and help to protect it. 
Let it be proud of its greatness. Let it be conscious 
of its inner worth. Let it watch every foreign 
state in its development. Let it make the sacrifices 
which our position as a world-power demands. Let 
it give up the spirit of party and stand united and 
firm behind its princes and its Emperor — then 
only will the German people help the Hanseatic 

♦Frederick III. 
153 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Jan. 

cities in carrying out their great work for the 
benefit of the Fatherland. 

That is my wish to-day, and to it and the 
health of Hamburg I raise my glass. 



ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE NEW 
CENTURY 

Berlin, January i, 1900 

The military New Year's celebration took place 
near the armory, and the standards of the entire 
Berlin garrison were for this purpose brought from 
the Royal Palace. The Empress and her younger 
children watched the celebration from the windows 
of the armory. 

The first day of the new century sees our army, 
that is our people under arms, gathered about its 
standards and kneeling before the Lord of Hosts. 
And, indeed, if any one has particular cause for 
bowing down to-day before God it is our army. 

A glance at our flags will explain the reason, for 
they embody our history. At the beginning of the 
last century what was the position of our army ? 
The glorious army of Frederick the Great had be- 
come ossified and was interested only in petty 
and insignificant details; it was led by generals 
feeble with age and no longer capable of conducting 
active campaigns; its corps of officers had lost the 

154 



i9oo] THE NEW CENTURY 

habit of invigorating labor; through a life of lux- 
ury and comfort and foolish exaltation of self it 
had fallen asleep upon its laurels. In one word, 
the army was not only no longer capable of carry- 
ing out its task, but had forgotten it. 

The punishment of Heaven was grievous, for it 
was suddenly visited upon our entire people. Cast 
down into the dust, Frederick's glory vanished, 
and the army's standards were broken. In the 
seven long years of grievous slavery God taught 
our people to take thought, and under the pressure 
of the foot of an insolent conqueror developed 
the idea of universal military service, the idea that 
the greatest honor lies in dedicating our services 
in arms and in sacrificing our blood and our pos- 
sessions for the Fatherland. My great-grand- 
father gave the idea form and life, and new laurels 
crowned the newly established army and her 
recent flags. 

But the idea of universal military service 
reached its full significance only under our great 
departed Emperor. In spite of opposition and 
lack of comprehension he quietly went to work at 
the reorganization, and at the re-establishment of 
our army. Victorious campaigns, nevertheless, 
gave his work an altogether unexpected sanction. 
His spirit filled the ranks of his army, even as his 
trust in God carried them on to unheard-of vic- 

i55 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Jan. 

tones. With this, his own creation, he brought the 
Germanic peoples together again and gave us the 
German unity for which we had prayed. We owe 
it to him that, thanks to this honor, the Ger- 
man Empire commands respect again and takes 
up its appointed place in the council of the na- 
tions. 

It is for you, gentlemen, to cherish and ex- 
emplify in the new century the old qualities 
through which our forefathers gave greatness to 
the army. This means that you must make few 
demands in daily life,* that you must practise 
simplicity and give yourselves up unconditionally 
to the royal service, that you must in ceaseless 
labor offer all the powers of body and soul to the 
building up and development of our troops, and, 

* "To the Americans the pay of the German troops, officers and 
men, is ludicrously small. It is evident that men do not undertake 
to fit themselves to be officers, and do not struggle through frequent 
and severe examinations to remain officers, for the pay they receive. 
A lieutenant receives for the first three years $300 a year, from the 
fourth to the sixth year $425, from the seventh to the ninth year 
$550, and after the twelfth year $600 a year. A captain receives 
from the first to the fourth year $850, from the fifth to the eighth 
year $1,150, and the ninth year and after $1,275 a year. Of one 
hundred officers who join, only an average of eight ever attain to 
the command of a regiment. In Bavaria and Wurtemberg promo- 
tion is quicker by from one to three years than in Prussia. In Prus- 
sia promotion to Oberleutnant averages 10 years, to captain or 
Rittmeister 15 years, to major 25 years, to colonel 33 years, and to 
general 37 years. It would not be altogether inhuman if these gen- 
tlemen occasionally drank a toast to war and pestilence." — Price 
Collier, "Germany and the Germans." 

156 



i9oo] NEW BOUNDARY POSTS 

just as my grandfather labored for his land forces, 
so, undeterred, I shall carry through to its com- 
pletion the work of reorganizing my navy in order 
that it may stand justified at the side of my army 
and that through it the German Empire may also 
be in a position to win outwardly the place which 
she has not yet attained. 

When both are united I hope to be in a position, 
firmly trusting in the leadership of God, to carry 
into effect the saying of Frederick William I: 
"If one wishes to decide anything in the world, 
it cannot be done with the pen unless the pen is 
supported by the force of the sword." 



NEW BOUNDARY POSTS 

Berlin, February 13, 1900 

On the occasion of the return of Prince Henry 
from the Orient, whither he had been sent at the 
time of the troubles in Kiaochow, the Emperor 
greeted him at a dinner held in the Royal Palace 
in Berlin. The question of the imperial foreign 
policy, as during all this period, is evidently here 
uppermost in the Emperor's mind. 

Your Royal Highness, My Dear Brother: 

I bid you a hearty welcome to our Fatherland 
and our capital ! Two years ago I sent you forth 
to carry out your task in the far East, and could 

i57 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

only hope that God would give you His protec- 
tion and bring the work to a successful issue. 
The joyous and enthusiastic reception which all 
classes in my home city, Berlin, give you is a 
testimony to the loving interest which our entire 
people have in the completion of the task which 
you had set yourself. 

But this reception has a still deeper significance. 
It is an unambiguous indication which proves how 
deeply the people have come to understand the 
need of strengthening our sea power. The German 
people is of one mind with its princes and its Em- 
peror in the feeling that in its powerful develop- 
ment it must set up a new boundary post and 
create a great fleet which will correspond to its 
needs. 

Just as Emperor William the Great created the 
weapon by whose help we became again black, 
white, and red, so the German people is now 
lending its efforts to forging the weapon through 
which, God willing and in all eternity, both here 
and in foreign countries, it will remain black, 
white, and red. 

On your return you find a little lad* in the arms 
of your faithful wife. As sponsor for the growth of 
our young fleet may you see him grow up to full 
maturity under the protection of God ! Hurrah ! 

* Prince Henry, born January 9, 1900. 
158 



i9oo] SEAPORTS AND CANNON 

SEAPORTS AND CANNON 

Lubeck, June 16, 1900 

The opening of the Elbe-Trave Canal took 
place at Lubeck in the presence of the Emperor. 
He again took up the question of the development 
of the German Empire. 

On this day I congratulate the city of Lubeck 
most heartily. First of all I offer my heartiest 
thanks for the wonderful reception which you pre- 
pared for me. I have seen in the attitude and the 
faces of the citizens how joyously their hearts are 
moved to-day; for they know that I, too, take a 
lively interest in all that now moves them. May 
the canal which they have carried through with 
their irresistible Hanseatic activity not fall short 
in any way of their expectations, and I am con- 
vinced that it will not do so. You see, as you 
look upon the completed work, how significant 
it is that a united German Empire now exists. 
Its past glories Lubeck owed to the German Em- 
perors, and its present glory it owes to the German 
Empire, so I hope that everywhere in the empire 
and among the people the conviction may grow 
that through the re-establishment and strengthen- 
ing of the German Empire we are now called upon 
to carry through those old tasks which could not 

iS9 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [July 

be accomplished formerly and which were rendered 
impossible through the unfortunate lack of union 
of our ancestors. 

I hope that in the future, under my protection, 
Liibeck may continue to develop. I could not ex- 
press this hope with the same satisfaction if I did 
not now stand before you joyously buoyed up by 
the hope that we to-day have the prospect of at 
last possessing a German fleet. 

An Emperor can only undertake to protect a 
seaport when he is in a position with his cannon 
to protect her flag, even in the farthermost corners 
of the world, whether it be that of Liibeck, or of 
Hamburg, or of Bremen, or of Prussia. 

May it be granted us to maintain peace out- 
wardly through our fleet, and may we succeed 
through the building of the necessary canals 
within to simplify the problem of transportation ! 
A blessing will certainly always rest upon our 
waterways. 



THE OCEAN KNOCKS AT OUR DOOR 

Kiel, July 3, 1900 

The ship of the line " Wittelsbach " was launched 
on this day. As the house of Wittelsbach is the 
reigning house of Bavaria, Prince Rupprecht of 
Bavaria was present at the christening and gave 

160 



igoo] THE OCEAN KNOCKS AT OUR DOOR 

the boat its name. A banquet took place in the 
evening at the officers' casino. The Emperor 
replied to Prince Rupprecht as follows: 

I thank your Royal Highness for the friendly 
words which you have been good enough to ad- 
dress to me. 

At the christening of this new ship your Royal 
Highness has mentioned the support which the 
house of Wittelsbach has given to the German 
Emperors. I would like to call attention in this 
connection to an episode in the early history of 
our houses. 

On the fields before Rome it was granted to one 
of the ancestors of your Royal Highness in 
company with one of mine to be made the re- 
cipient of a very unusual distinction. Mounted 
upon their horses and clad in armor, in sight of 
the hostile squadron of knights, they received the 
accolade from Emperor Henry VII. The inci- 
dent is immortalized in a picture upon my yacht 
Hohenzollern. 

The descendants of those princes gave each 
other assistance at Miihldorf,* where the Hohen- 
zoller won the battle for Emperor Ludwig of 
Bavaria. Just as at that time the houses of 
Wittelsbach and of Hohenzollern fought side by 

♦Battle fought in 1322 between two competitors for the empire, 
Louis V and Frederick the Fair. 

161 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [July 

side for the good of the empire, so now, too, and in 
the future they will work together. 

Your Royal Highness has had the opportunity 
to be present during these days when we came 
to weighty conclusions and to be the witness of 
historical moments which mark a new point in the 
history of our people. Your Royal Highness has 
been able to convince himself how powerfully the 
wave beat of the ocean knocks at the door of our 
people and forces it to demand its place in the 
world as a great nation; drives it on, in short, to 
world politics. 

Germany's greatness makes it impossible for her 
to do without the ocean — but the ocean also proves 
that even in the distance, and on its farther side, 
without Germany and the German Emperor no 
great decision dare henceforth be taken.* 

I do not believe that thirty years ago our Ger- 
man people, under the leadership of their princes, 
bled and conquered in order that they might be 
shoved aside when great decisions are to be made 
in foreign politics. If that could happen the idea 
that the German people are to be considered as a 
world-power would be dead and done for, and it is 
not my will that this should happen. To this end 
it is only my duty and my finest privilege to use 

* See the introduction to chapter IV, " The Beginning of World 
Politics." 

162 



i9oo] OPEN THE WAY FOR CULTURE 

the proper and, if need be, the most drastic means 
without fear of consequences. I am convinced 
that in this course I have the German princes 
and the German people firmly behind me. 

It is of great significance that precisely at this 
time, when Bavarians and Wiirtembergers, Saxons 
and Prussians are going into the far East in order 
to re-establish the honor of the German flag, 
your Royal Highness should have accepted the 
honor of the a la suite position to the naval bat- 
talion. Just as the house of Wittelsbach took up 
arms in 1870 to fight for Germany's honor, for 
her union, and her imperial dignity, so I hope that 
the empire may always be assured of the support 
of this noble race. 

As a representative of this noble house I greet 
your Royal Highness with the wish that the close 
connection which the a la suite position to my 
navy now gives you will always maintain your 
Royal Highness's interest for our fleet. 

I drink to the health of his Royal Highness, 
Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
Hurrah! 

OPEN THE WAY FOR CULTURE 

Bremen, July 27, 1900 

Events in China touched upon in the speech 
delivered on December 15, 1897, had finally 

163 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [July 

brought about the Pekin crisis. Baron von 
Ketteler, the German Minister, had been shot 
down in the streets on June 20. 

The following is one of five speeches which the 
Emperor delivered on the occasion of the de- 
parture of the German troops for China. This 
particular one was delivered to the troops at 
Bremen in the presence of the Empress, Princes 
Eitel Friedrich and Adelbert, Chancellor Hohen- 
lohe, Secretary of State von Biilow, Minister of 
War von Gossler, and Lieutenant-General von 
Bessel. Various versions of this speech exist and 
in many of them the harshness of the Emperor's 
expression has been toned down. We give first 
the version which was printed in the Reichsan- 
zeiger, the official journal, and which seems to 
have been somewhat edited. In order that the 
reader may realize more fully the impression con- 
veyed by the Emperor's farewell address to his 
troops, we print under it the account which a 
volunteer of the 1st East Asiatic Regiment of 
infantry sent home to his family. 

Great tasks oversea have fallen to the lot of 
the newly arisen German Empire, tasks far greater 
than many of my countrymen have expected. 
The character of the German Empire makes it a 
duty for it to protect its citizens no matter how 
far they may have penetrated into foreign lands. 
The new German Empire is in a position to dis- 
charge the task which the old Roman Empire of the 

164 



igoo] OPEN THE WAY FOR CULTURE 

German Nation could not discharge. The instru- 
ment which makes this possible for us is our army. 

In thirty years of faithful and peaceful labor it 
has been developed according to the principles 
of my late grandfather. You too have received 
your training according to these principles, and 
are now called upon to give proof before the enemy 
whether or not you have observed them well. 
Your comrades of the navy have undergone this 
trial; they have shown you that the principles of 
our training are good, and I am proud of the 
praise which has come from the mouths of foreign 
leaders, in recognition of the service which your 
comrades out there have given. It is now for you 
to do likewise. 

A great task is waiting for you. You are to 
right the grievous wrong which has been done. 
The Chinese have overthrown the law of nations; 
in a way which has never been heard of in the 
history of the world, they have scorned the duties 
of hospitality and the sanctity of the Ambassador. 
This is the more revolutionary, as this crime was 
committed by a nation which is proud of its very 
ancient culture. Preserve the old Prussian thor- 
oughness; show yourselves as Christians in joyfully 
bearing your trials; may honor and glory follow 
your flags and weapons! Give the world an ex- 
ample of manliness and discipline. 

165 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [July 

You know very well that you are to fight against 
a cunning, brave, well-armed, and terrible enemy. 
If you come to grips with him, be assured quarter 
will not be given, no prisoners will be taken. Use 
your weapons in such a way that for a thousand 
years no Chinese shall dare to look upon a German 
askance. Show your manliness. 

The blessing of God be with you ! The prayers 
of an entire people and my wishes accompany you, 
every one. Open the way for culture once for all ! 

And now take up your journey! Adieu, com- 
rades! 

We here subjoin the account of this speech as 
given in the letter of a volunteer in the 1st East 
Asiatic Regiment of infantry: 

After the Emperor had gone down the front 
and had greeted separately every battalion, every 
division or squadron, he pictured the present 
situation in eloquent words and called attention 
to the fact that no crime which so cried to Heaven 
had been recorded in the history of the world, 
but he also set in their proper light the difficulties 
of the task which we had set for ourselves and 
emphasized the fact that we had before us an op- 
ponent equal in equipment and fame but ten 
times superior in numbers. But, and his words ran 
about as follows, "y° u will and must defeat him 

1 66 



i 9 oo] CIVIS ROMANUS SUM 

with the help of God and, indeed, in such a way 
that the Chinese in thousands of years will not 
presume to raise his hand against a German"; and 
his voice became deeply moved and powerful as he 
spoke the following words: "On the strength of 
the oath to the flag which you have sworn to me 
I demand that you give no pardon, that no 
prisoners be taken, for you shall be the avengers 
of the abomination which has been committed in 
this present time." Then followed certain words 
of farewell, and the speech of the Emperor which 
for me and for many others will be unforgetable 
closed with the phrase, "Adieu, comrades." 



CIVIS ROMANUS SUM 

Imperial Limes Museum, Saalburg, October ii, 1900 

Limes was the Latin name for the boundary 
wall extending for about 300 miles from the Rhine 
to the Danube and separating the Roman Empire 
from the free Germanic peoples. At Saalburg, in 
the Taunus Mountains, there stood on the Limes 
an old Roman citadel which was excavated and 
restored. The Romanized ceremony at the laying 
of the corner-stone of the Imperial Limes Museum 
struck certain German critics as somewhat the- 
atrical. The guards had been drilled to clash 
their swords on their shields after the manner 
of the Pretorian guards, the rector of the school 

167 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

offered his homage in Latin verses, and boys whose 
hair had been dressed in Roman fashion swung 
their censers. The Emperor's historical references 
here about the relation of Germany to Rome are 
somewhat one-sided. It may be recalled, in con- 
nection with the Emperor's remarks about Augus- 
tus and his salutary influence on Germany, that 
in the Forest of Teutoburg there is a great monu- 
ment to commemorate the fact that the united 
German tribes, struggling victoriously against this 
" Roman culture which fell so fruitfully upon 
Germany especially," there annihilated the forces 
of the general of Augustus, Quintilius Varus. 

My first thought to-day goes back in solemn 
gratitude to my father of everlasting memory, 
Emperor Frederick III. It is to his creative will 
and to his activity that Saalburg owes its res- 
toration. 

Just as in the far east of the monarchy at his 
bidding the powerful stronghold, which once had 
implanted German culture into the east, rearose 
and is now nearing completion, so, too, here in 
the beautiful Taunus Mountains the old Roman 
citadel has arisen again like a phcenix from its 
ashes. It is a testimony to the Roman power, a 
link in the great chain which the legions of Rome 
built about the powerful empire which, at the bid- 
ding of the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus 
alone, forced its way upon the world and opened 

1 68 




THE EMPEROR IN 1900 



igoo] ORDER TO THE PRUSSIAN ARMY 

the whole world to that Roman culture which fell 
so fruitfully upon Germany especially. 

With the first blow of my hammer I therefore 
dedicate this stone to the memory of Emperor 
Frederick III; with the second I dedicate it to 
German youth, to the generations now growing 
up who may learn here in this restored museum 
what a world-empire means; with the third I 
dedicate it to our German Fatherland, to which 
I hope it will be granted, through the harmonious 
co-operation of princes and peoples, of its armies 
and its citizens, to become in the future as closely 
united, as powerful, and as authoritative as once 
the Roman world-empire was, and that, just as 
in old times they said, "Civis romanus sum," here- 
after, at some time in the future, they will say: 
"I am a German citizen. " 



CABINET ORDER TO THE PRUSSIAN ARMY 

January, 190 i 

The relationship of the army to the Prussian 
Kings here referred to is treated in chapter I. 

To My Army: 

To-day, at the celebration which commemorates 
the two-hundredth anniversary of our taking over 
of the royal power of Prussia, my thoughts are 

169 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Jan. 

directed first of all to my army. In Prussia the 
King and the army belong indissolubly together. 
This close personal relationship between me and 
every single one of my officers and soldiers rests 
upon a tradition that dates back 200 years. The 
spirit which from the time of Frederick the Great 
has been fostered in the army by all the Kings, the 
spirit of honor, of fidelity to duty, of obedience, of 
courage, of chivalry has made the army what it is 
and what it ought to be, the sharp, reliable weapon 
in the hand of her Kings for the protection and the 
blessing of the Fatherland's greatness. 

To serve the Fatherland at the head of the army, 
that is my will and that also was the foremost wish 
of all my predecessors. It is to their care that the 
army owes its power and the consideration which 
it enjoys. For 200 years she has proven true the 
sentence of the great King: "The world does not 
rest upon the shoulders of Atlas any more securely 
than the Prussian state upon the shoulders of the 
army!" It has sealed with its blood its love and 
gratitude for its Kings ! 

For all this I thank the army deeply. I thank 
it for the devotion which it has unselfishly shown 
me and my house year in and year out, in its 
unceasing service for the Fatherland. So long as 
this spirit binds the army to its Kings, so long we 
need fear no storms; and Prussia's eagle will 

170 



i 9 oi] DEDICATION OF BARRACKS 

proudly pursue its lofty and undeflected flight 
for the good of Prussia, for the good of Germany ! 
May God grant us this ! 

William, I. R. 

Berlin Royal Palace. 



DEDICATION OF THE BARRACKS OF THE 
ALEXANDER REGIMENT 

March 28, 190 1 

On the 6th of March the Emperor had been 
struck in the face by a piece of iron hurled at him 
by an irresponsible youth, Weiland, in the streets 
of Bremen. It was doubtless this incident coupled 
with the increasing strength of the Social Demo- 
crats that made him think of the possibility of an 
uprising and deliver the following address to the 
population of Berlin. The Social Democrats and 
many others resented his suggesting the possi- 
bility of turning the troops upon the citizens. We 
give first Penzler's more or less official account 
of the speech as it appeared in the Kreuzzeitung. 
If the extract which we quote from Doctor Liman's 
work "Der Kaiser" may be considered at all 
authentic, the speech seems to have been some- 
what edited before publication. 

Members of the Emperor Alexander Regi- 
ment: 

To-day a new period in your history begins. 
May the spirit of the memories which you leave 

171 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

behind you in the old barracks live on in your 
new home. They are memories of beautiful days 
of peace and of fierce days of conflict. Like a firm 
bulwark, your new barracks stand in the neighbor- 
hood of the palace, which it is primarily your duty 
to be ever ready to defend. The Emperor Alex- 
ander Regiment is called upon in a sense to stand 
ready as body-guard by night and by day and, if 
necessary, to risk its life and its blood for the 
King and his house; and if ever again (the Em- 
peror here called to mind the faithful bearing of 
the Alexander Regiment at the time of the revolts 
against the King in 1848) a time like this should 
reappear in this city, a time of uprising against 
the King, then I am convinced the Alexander 
Regiment will be able energetically to force back 
into bounds any impertinence and rebelliousness 
against its royal master.* 

I hope that a brilliant and beautiful existence 
may be in store for the regiment in its new home, 
and that such an existence will be reserved for it 
in the future. May it cherish above all things its 
memories of its earlier leaders and its enduring 

*This last sentence reads as follows in Doctor Liman's work: 
"But if the city should ever again presume to rise up against its 
master then will the regiment repress with the bayonet the imperti- 
nence of the people toward their King." Doctor Liman states that 
it was currently reported that this sentiment had been expressed 
in phrases which were even more objectionable to the citizens who 
were standing outside the circle of soldiers. 

172 



i 9 oi] DEDICATION OF BARRACKS 

relationships to them. These memories can only 
be fostered through courage, fidelity, and uncon- 
ditional obedience. And if this old spirit lives on 
in the regiment then must its acts always win for 
it the satisfaction of its royal master. 

(After the banquet in the officers' mess the 
Emperor turned over to them a large painting of 
the Alexander Regiment on the evening of the 
battle of St. Privat. The official report gives the 
Emperor's speech partly in his own words and 
partly in summary.) 

He was convinced that the officers had brought 
the old spirit into their new quarters, and that 
they would continue to foster it. He, too, on his 
side, wished to contribute something to the 
decoration of their new home, and to this end had 
chosen an episode out of the victorious history 
of the regiment, and in doing so he wished to 
carry out a wish of the officers. 

"In most of the pictures based upon the martial 
history of Prussia the Prussian troops are repre- 
sented in victorious advance when, under their 
powerful shock, they are overthrowing the enemy. 
I thought it fitting for once to have the Prussian 
toughness and endurance on the defensive repre- 
sented in the battle of a smaller body against an 
overwhelmingly superior force. The picture repre- 

i73 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [April 

sents how a small number from the Alexander 
Regiment defended themselves with heroic spirit 
against an entire brigade and finally victoriously 
repulsed it. My grandfather expressed to the 
body-guard as a whole his gratitude for its brave 
conduct in the face of the enemy and for all its 
heroic deeds. I am firmly convinced that the 
officers of the Alexander Regiment will always be 
mindful of its task, seeing that it educates soldiers 
for the one moment when it is a question of sealing 
with their life-blood their fidelity toward King and 
Fatherland. This consciousness gives me the 
certainty that we shall conquer everywhere, even 
though we be surrounded by enemies on all sides; 
for there lives a powerful ally, the old, good God* 
in heaven, who, ever since the time of the Great 
Elector and of the great King, has always been on 
our side." 

TO THE STUDENTS AT BONN 

April 24, 1901 

Emperor William had himself been a student at 
Bonn. On this day the Crown Prince was matric- 
ulated at that university and in the evening the 
students held a Festkommers, a kind of banquet of 
the student societies, at which the Emperor ap- 
peared with the Crown Prince and his brother-in- 

* Der alte, gute Gott. 
174 



i 9 oi] TO THE STUDENTS AT BONN 

law, Prince Adolph von Schaumburg-Lippe. After 
singing two student songs, the student leader 
of the Kommers, "Studiosus" von Alvensleben, 
greeted the Emperor with a speech of welcome. 
In this friendly gathering the Emperor took oc- 
casion to discuss the history of the empire and 
especially the reasons for the failure of the older 
empire because of its cosmopolitan character. 
The new empire must be based upon a recognition 
of the characteristic German traits and will be 
possible only through the whole-hearted support 
of the constituent states of the realm. 

I do not need to emphasize or even to mention 
to you, my dear young comrades, what emotions 
thrill my heart at finding myself again among 
students in beautiful Bonn. There unrolls before 
my mind's eye the glimmering picture of sunshine 
and happy contentment with which the period 
of my own sojourn here was filled. It was the joy 
of living, joy in people old and young, and, above 
all things, joy in the development of the young 
German Empire ! 

It is therefore my wish at this moment, when I 
place my dear son among you, that he, too, may 
have as happy a time as a student as was once 
vouchsafed to me. And, indeed, how could 
it be otherwise ? For Bonn, the lovely city, is so 
accustomed to the presence of young men full of 
life and seems by nature to have been designed 

i75 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [April 

to no other end. Here the Crown Prince will 
find memories of his glorious grandfather who 
could not forget Bonn — his kindly eyes brightened 
whenever the name of the city which had become 
so dear to him was mentioned — memories of his 
great-grandfather, the noble prince consort, the 
companion of that now sanctified royal lady,* who 
always strove to maintain a peaceful and friendly 
relationship between her people and ours, which 
are both of German stock — memories of many 
another noble German prince who here prepared 
himself for his later career. 

But even more than that — Bonn is situated on 
the Rhine; it is here that our grapes are gathered; 
our legends cluster about it, and every castle, 
every city, speaks to us of our past. The magic 
of Father Rhine will certainly exercise its power 
upon the Crown Prince likewise. And when you 
joyfully pass the cup and sing a new song, then 
I hope that your spirits may rise and enjoy the 
beautiful moments as becomes happy German 
youths! But may the source from which you 
draw your joys be as clear and pure as the golden 
juice of the grape, may it be deep and constant 
as Father Rhine! If we look about us in the 
joyous Rhineland, our history rises up before us 
in very palpable form. You may well rejoice that 

* Queen Victoria. 
176 



i9oi] TO THE STUDENTS AT BONN 

you are young Germans, as you travel through 
the stretch from Aix to Mainz, that is, from 
Charlemagne to the time of Germany's splendor 
under Barbarossa. 

But why did all this glory come to naught ? 
Why did the German Empire dwindle away ? 
Because the old empire was not founded upon a 
strictly national basis. The universality idea 
of the old Roman Empire of the German Nation 
did not admit of any development in the spirit 
of German nationality. The life of a nation de- 
pends upon its frontiers, upon the personality of 
its people, and upon its racial traits. And so the 
glory of Barbarossa had to fail, and the old im- 
perial structure had to fall, because through its 
idea of universality it hindered the process of 
crystallization which might have made it a rounded 
and completed nation; for the smaller units 
crystallized into the form of powerful principali- 
ties and laid the foundation for new states. But 
through this process their rulers unfortunately 
came into conflict with the empire and the Em- 
peror, who dreamed of universal dominion, and 
internal peace was lost to the ever weakening 
empire. Unfortunately, at the head of this 
chapter in the development of our German 
people we must write the telling words of Tacitus, 
that great student of Germany: "Propter in- 

177 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [April 

vidiam." The princes were envious of the power 
of the Emperors, just as once they were envious of 
the power of Arminius in spite of his victory. 
The nobility was envious of the cities which had 
become wealthy, and the peasant was envious 
of the noble. What unhappy consequences and 
what grievous woes our dear and beautiful Ger- 
many had to suffer "propter invidiam"! The 
shores of Father Rhine can tell you long stories 
about this. But finally God allowed one to ac- 
complish what before had been impossible. Aix 
and Mainz are for us historic memories; the 
longing to be brought together into a single na- 
tion remained in the German breast, and Emperor 
William the Great, in union with his faithful 
servants, achieved it. So cast your eyes from 
Coblentz to the German Eck and from Rudesheim 
to the Niederwald ! The pictures teach and prove 
to you that you are now Germans in a German 
land, citizens of a definitely bounded German 
nation. You are here to prepare yourselves to 
contribute to her future welfare and development. 
In its proud flower the empire stands before you. 
May you be filled with joy and grateful happi- 
ness, and may you be thrilled with the firm and 
manly resolve, as Germans, to give your service 
to Germany, to support, strengthen, and elevate 
her! The future waits for you and will need 

178 



i9oi] TO THE STUDENTS AT BONN 

your strength; it does not expect that you will 
waste it in idle cosmopolitan dreams or enlist 
it in the service of selfish party tendencies, but 
that you will devote it to strengthening the na- 
tional idea and our own ideals. Powerful, indeed, 
are the intellectual heroes which the Germanic 
stock, through the grace of God, has produced, 
from the time of Boniface and Walter von der 
Vogelweide to Goethe and Schiller; and they 
have become a light and blessing to all humanity. 
Their influence was exerted universally, and yet 
they were strictly Germans, set apart by them- 
selves; that is, personalities, men. We need them 
to-day more than ever. May you strive to become 
such as they were ! 

But how is this to be possible, and who is to 
help you ? Only one, our Lord and Saviour, whose 
name we all bear and who has borne our sins and 
redeemed us, has provided us with an example, 
and labored as we are to labor. He has implanted 
moral earnestness in you so that the springs of 
your activity may remain pure and that your aims 
may be lofty ! The love of father and mother, of 
the ancestral home and Fatherland, is rooted in 
the love for Him. Then will you be provided 
with a charm against temptations of every sort, 
above all against pride and envy, and you can 
sing and say: "We Germans fear God, nothing 

179 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

else in this world." Then will we stand firm and 
spread culture through the world, and I shall 
close my eyes in peace if I see such generations 
growing up and gathered about my son. Then 
" Deutschland, Deutschland uber J lies!" With this 
prospect in mind I call out: Long live the Uni- 
versity of Bonn ! 

A PLACE IN THE SUN 

Hamburg, June 18, 1901 

From his childhood the Emperor has been fond 
of the sea. Most of his vacations have been taken 
aboard his famous yacht Hohenzollern, and al- 
most every year he has been an enthusiastic 
spectator, and occasionally participant, in the 
regattas on the Elbe. On this occasion the steam- 
yacht Prinzes sin Victoria Luise was placed at 
his disposition by the directors of the Hamburg- 
American Line. He is using his famous phrase, 
"a place in the sun" with reference to the happy 
outcome of events in China, for on May 27 of 
this year China had finally accepted the terms of 
the powers. Of the 90,000 men sent by the 
powers, Germany had furnished 22,000, and the 
general direction of the expedition had been in- 
trusted to the German general Von Waldersee. 
Ballin, of the Hamburg-American Line, had ac- 
quired 3,000 feet of water-front and had leased 
for twenty-five years most of the landings of a 
Chinese navigation company. The Emperor's 

180 



i 9 oi] A PLACE IN THE SUN 

speech was delivered in reply to one by Burgo- 
master Monckeberg of Hamburg. 

I offer my heartiest thanks for the eloquent 
address of your Magnificence. I express to you 
and all comrades on the water the pleasure which 
I feel that I should once more be allowed to ap- 
pear among you and take part in the races of the 
North German Regatta Association. 

His Magnificence, in his short and pregnant 
speech, gave us as good and beautiful a picture as 
possible of the development of our Fatherland 
during recent years in the field of water sports 
and of our relations to foreign countries. It will 
be my sole task for the future to see to it that the 
seeds which have been sown may develop in peace 
and security. 

In spite of the fact that we have no such fleet 
as we should have, we have conquered for our- 
selves a place in the sun. It will now be my task 
to see to it that this place in the sun shall remain 
our undisputed possession, in order that the 
sun's rays may fall fruitfully upon our activity 
and trade in foreign parts, that our industry and 
agriculture may develop within the state and 
our sailing sports upon the water, for our fu- 
ture lies upon the water. The more Germans go 
out upon the waters, whether it be in the races 



Ibl 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

of regattas, whether it be in journeys across the 
ocean, or in the service of the battle-flag, so much 
the better will it be for us. For when the German 
has once learned to direct his glance upon what is 
distant and great, the pettiness which surrounds 
him in daily life on all sides will disappear. 
Whoever wishes to have this larger and freer out- 
look can find no better place than one of the 
Hanseatic cities. What we have learned out of 
the previous history of our development amounts 
really to what I already pointed out when I sent 
my brother to the East Asiatic station (Dec. 15, 
1897). We have merely drawn the logical con- 
clusions from the work which was left us by Em- 
peror William the Great, my memorable grand- 
father, and the great man whose monument we 
have recently unveiled.* These consequences lie 
in the fact that we are now making our efforts 
to do what, in the old time, the Hanseatic cities 
could not accomplish, because they lacked the 
vivifying and protecting power of the empire. 
May it be the function of my Hansa during many 
years of peace to protect and advance commerce 
and trade ! 

In the events which have taken place in China 
I see the indication that European peace is as- 
sured for many years to come; for the achieve- 

* Bismarck. 
182 



1901] A PLACE IN THE SUN 

ments of the particular contingents have brought 
about a mutual respect and feeling of comrade- 
ship that can only serve the furtherance of peace. 
But in this period of peace I hope that our Han- 
seatic cities will flourish. Our new Hansa will 
open new paths and create and conquer new 
markets for them. 

As head of the empire I therefore rejoice over 
every citizen, whether from Hamburg, Bremen, 
or Liibeck, who goes forth with this large outlook 
and seeks new points where we can drive in the 
nail on which to hang our armor. Therefore, I 
believe that I express the feeling of all your 
hearts when I recognize gratefully that the di- 
rector of this company who has placed at our 
disposal the wonderful ship which bears my 
daughter's name has gone forth as a courageous 
servant of the Hansa, in order to make for us 
friendly conquests whose fruits will be gathered 
by our descendants. 

In the joyful hope that this enterprising Han- 
seatic spirit may be spread even further, I raise 
my glass and ask all of those who are my comrades 
upon the water to join with me in a cheer for 
sailing and the Hanseatic spirit ! 



183 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

THE GREAT ELECTOR 

Kiel, June 20, 1901 

Because of his activity in founding the Branden- 
burg fleet, a monument was erected to the Great 
Elector at Kiel. His history has been touched 
upon in chapter I. In connection with the ser- 
vices of the Dutch admirals it is interesting to 
note that one of the Emperor's heroes was the 
God-fearing Dutch admiral De Ruyter, who always 
offered prayers before battle. The Emperor once 
laid a wreath upon his grave, and to-day on board 
the battle-ships the Dutch prayer before going 
into action is often read by the chaplains of the 
navy. 

What extraordinary progress has been made in 
naval matters under the Emperor we may judge 
when we remember that before the Franco- 
Prussian War there were in Germany no con- 
struction bureaus and no wharves in which cruisers 
could be built. The first armored cruisers, Konig 
Wilhelm, Kronprinz, Friedrich Karl, were bought 
from England and France. In thirty years 
Germany has here achieved not only complete 
independence but something approaching very 
nearly to supremacy. His service in this field 
has been generally recognized. A German critic 
not usually favorable to the Emperor speaks thus: 
"Perhaps nowhere in the development of our 
political life does the personal activity of the Em- 
peror stand out so strongly as in the building up 
of the German fleet. From the beginning he has 

184 



i90i] THE GREAT ELECTOR 

displayed so much energy and perseverance, in 
this respect, and has so emphatically carried his 
will into effect that history will certainly credit 
him with a great and unique service." 

At the unveiling of the monument to the Great 
Elector, the founder of the German navy, the 
Emperor spoke as follows: 

Downtrodden fields, desolate plains, razed vil- 
lages, disease, poverty, and misery; these were the 
conditions in the sandy mark when the young 
Elector in his earliest youth was called to the 
throne by the sudden death of his father. Truly, 
no enviable heritage; a task that called for a man 
who was mature, experienced, and conversant 
with all branches, and one which, even so, might 
have proved too difficult. 

Undismayed, the young man entered upon his 
mission, and with wonderful ability he succeeded 
in discharging it. With an iron energy, keeping 
the goal which he had once set for himself ever 
before his eyes, allowing nothing to turn him 
aside, the Elector raised upland strengthened his 
country, put his people in a position to defend 
themselves, freed his borders of enemies, and soon 
acquired for himself such a position that the con- 
temporary world, and even his enemies, gave him 
while still living that title, "The Great," which 
in other cases a grateful people only bestows 

185 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

after an arduous life of service upon a departed 
ruler. 

And this youth who grew up to powerful man- 
hood, who had directed his country in this work, 
was the first prince who called our attention to 
the sea; he was the founder of the Brandenburg 
fleet. 

If the German fleet, then, sets up a monument 
to him, and if her officers and crews educate them- 
selves and learn steadfastness of purpose by look- 
ing at his statue, they are merely discharging 
their honorable duty. God had so disposed that 
the Elector should pass his youth in the Nether- 
lands and learn to foster and appreciate labor, 
industry, foreign relationships, and the advantages 
of trade. He carried over into his own country 
what he had acquired among that industrious 
and simple folk of seafarers who come from Ger- 
man stock. At that time it was, indeed, a most 
important decision, and one which at first his 
subjects and contemporaries could hardly under- 
stand. 

Under his powerful will and protection, and in 
the hands of tried Netherlanders, the Admiral 
Raule and his brother, the Brandenburg fleet 
flourished. Only after the death of the Elector 
did his creation fall to decay. They were not 
destined to harvest the fruits of their labor. His 

186 



igoi] THE GREAT ELECTOR 

successors in power had first to establish through 
battles their rights, in order to have a voice in 
the world and to be allowed to rule, undisturbed 
and in peace, the people within their borders. 
As a result, our eyes were turned from the sea 
again in order that after centuries of fierce con- 
flict the mark and Prussia might finally be welded 
together. 

Thus, through the guidance of God and through 
the labors of the successors of the Great Elector, 
the power of his house was founded on that firm 
foundation and with the corner-stone which he 
had laid. It was this princely power that made it 
possible for the house of Hohenzollern to take up 
the German imperial dignity. They founded 
that dynastic power which the German Emperor 
must have in order to be in a position to care for 
and protect powerfully the welfare of the empire 
everywhere and to force its opponents to respect 
its flag. 

His monument now stands before the academy. 
That younger generation to whom the future be- 
longs, which is to cultivate the seeds that we have 
sown and to reap the harvest of our labors, may 
now direct its gaze toward this prince and be 
edified by his example. 

He was God-fearing and stern, inflexibly stern 
toward himself and toward others; he trusted 

187 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

firmly in God and allowed God to direct him, 
undismayed by any reverse or by any disappoint- 
ment; as a Christian, he looked upon these merely 
as trials sent him from on high. In this way the 
Great Elector lived his life, and this is the example 
which we are to follow. The motto which made it 
possible for him never to lose his hope and courage, 
in spite of all vexations, in spite of all reverses 
and all grievous experiences and trials, was the 
red thread which ran through his life and which 
is expressed in his phrase: " Domine, fac me scire 
viam, quam ambulem." 

May this be true also of the officers and crews 
of my navy ! So long as we work on this basis 
we can overcome, undismayed, every grievous 
phase in the development of the navy and of our 
Fatherland which God's providence may have 
in store for us. Let that be the way that 
you shall go ! Let that be the foundation on 
which my navy is built up ! This will enable you 
to conquer in battle and to endure all vexa- 
tions until the sun again breaks forth from the 
clouds. 

I therefore turn over this new monument to the 
navy. May she protect, cherish, and honor it, so 
that in the future she may develop characters 
which are like his who now stands before her! 
Let the monument be unveiled ! 

188 



i 9 oi] PRINCE EITEL FRIEDRICH 

ENTRANCE OF PRINCE EITEL FRIEDRICH 
INTO THE ARMY 

July 7, 1901 

The second son of the Emperor took up his 
service in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Guard 
on the completion of his eighteenth year. On 
this occasion, in the presence of many princes, 
officers of the army, and military attaches, the 
Emperor turned over his son to the regiment 
with the following words: 

My second son, Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prus- 
sia, having applied himself eagerly to his studies, 
has now, according to the verdict of his superiors, 
passed his examination with a "good." His 
childish years lie behind him, and to-day he takes 
up the tasks of life for which he has prepared 
himself— his foremost task the defense of the 
Fatherland — his noblest weapon the sword, his 
noblest uniform the Prussian soldier's uniform, 
the uniform of my 1st Infantry Regiment of the 
Guard. 

The qualities which the Prince has shown in the 
course of his youthful development, as well as his 
oath, are a pledge to me that he will be a thorough- 
going officer and a faithful servant of his Father- 
land. Particularly gifted for the military life, 
with a quick eye for detail, the Prince, as soon as 

189 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [July 

he has passed his examination as an officer, will in 
the ranks of the regiment devote himself actively 
to the service for which he longs. 

Although still very youthful, he should, never- 
theless, be an example of earnestness, an example 
in observing all military rules, an example above 
all as an officer and man. I can think of nothing 
more beautiful than this, that he may be an 
earnest officer who turns an experienced eye upon 
life, unbending as iron in everything which con- 
stitutes the chivalry of the officer's position, stern 
with himself and maintaining in strictest self-con- 
trol the traditions of his house and of this great 
regiment. May he go his way untroubled by 
voices from without, with his eye firmly fixed upon 
his goal, and responsible only to his God and to 
his father! 

But the regiment in which I have now enrolled 
my second son gives me the assurance that the 
young Prince will grow up in an environment, 
where from all sides the glorious traditions of 
Prussian history in good and evil days will be 
brought before him. The grenadiers of this regi- 
ment will be fully conscious of the honor which is 
bestowed upon them through the fact that once 
more a young Hohenzollern takes his place under 
her flag. 

My son, I wish you happiness of this day. Up 
190 



i9oi] TRUE ART 

to the present you have given me joy, and from 
this time forth I hope that you will experience 
joy in the life and the work which lies before you. 
Step into the ranks and draw your sword ! 



TRUE ART 

Berlin, December 18, 1901 

The family of the Hohenzollerns has possessed 
undoubted genius in many lines. Frederick the 
Great and the Emperor's great-uncle Frederick 
William IV were particularly gifted on the artistic 
side. The present Emperor, whose versatility 
is amazing, has taken a particular interest in 
things literary and artistic, and has himself oc- 
casionally assumed the role of creative artist. 
The symbolic picture, representing the coming of 
the "Yellow Peril,' , which he is said to have 
painted for the Czar, caused much comment, 
mostly unfavorable.* He has, however, assumed 
a prominent if not a decisive role in direct- 

* "Emperor William, one of the most comical persons of our 
time, orator, poet, musician, dramatic writer, and artist, and, above 
all patriot, has lately painted a picture representing all the nations 
of Europe with swords, standing at the seashore and, at the indica- 
tion of Archangel Michael, looking at the sitting figures of Buddha 
and Confucius in the distance. According to William's intention, 
this should mean that the nations of Europe ought to unite in order 
to defendthemselves against the peril which is proceeding from there. 
He is quite right from his coarse, pagan, patriotic point of view 
which is eighteen hundred years behind the times. The European 
nations, forgetting Christ, have in the name of their patriotism more 

191 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

ing sculpture, painting, and drama in his capital. 
Just as he has directed modifications in battle- 
ships, so also he has directed modifications in 
public buildings. As he is in a position to dis- 
tribute rewards, his advice is frequently accepted 
without question. The following anecdote, told 
by a prominent German architect and recounted 
by a recent writer, may serve as an illustration: 
Drawings for a new church in Berlin were sub- 
mitted to the Emperor for assent or correction. 
His Majesty, intending to make a marginal remark, 
with regard to the cross on the top of the steeple, 
put a letter for reference above the cross and drew 
a straight line from the letter down to the cross. 
Having changed his mind, he drew an X vigorously 
through the letter. When the architect received 
his plans again he studied carefully all the Em- 
peror's corrections, but mistook the cancelled 
letter for a star. Knowing better than to ask 
questions, he built the church and put a big star 
on a huge iron pole above the top of the cross. 
This strange excrescence was in existence a few 
years ago and is probably still visible. 



and more irritated these peaceful nations and have taught them 
patriotism and war, and have now irritated them so much that, 
indeed, if Japan and China will as fully forget the teachings of Buddha 
and of Confucius as we have forgotten the teachings of Christ, they 
will soon learn the art of killing people (they learn these things 
quickly, as Japan has proved), and, being fearless, agile, strong, 
and populous, they will inevitably very soon make of the countries 
of Europe, if Europe does not invent something stronger than guns 
and Edison's inventions, what the countries of Europe are making 
of Africa. 'The disciple is not above his master: but every one that 
is perfect shall be as his master' (Luke 6: 40)." — Tolstoi. 

192 



i 9 oi] TRUE ART 

It is a curious fact that for all the Emperor's 
insistence upon what might be called nationalism, 
in artistic matters at least, in poetry, sculpture, 
and the drama, he has very little sympathy with 
the modern German tendencies. Klinger and 
Stuck, Ludwig von Hofmann and Thoma have 
found no favor, and no attention was paid to 
Bocklin. His literary preferences will become 
more evident after a reading of his talk with Gang- 
hofer (November 12, 1906). 

In the matter of sculpture, the achievement in 
which the Emperor takes most pride is undoubt- 
edly the famous Siegesallee in Berlin. It consists 
of a number of monumental, heroic figures taken 
from the history of his house. The avenue, the 
general scheme,' and the arrangement of many of 
the figures were planned by him, and the figures 
were chosen in consultation with his historiog- 
rapher. The style is supposedly classic; there 
are many incidental animal figures, and a sphinx 
and the sibyl help to represent Bismarck. The 
attempt to make heroic and classic certain of the 
fairly mediocre representatives of his line, like 
Albrecht, Otto and John, Joachim, Frederick, and 
George William, seems to have been too difficult 
a task even for that Berlin school of sculpture, 
which the Emperor feels would bear comparison 
with that of the Renaissance. Notwithstanding 
his own efforts to awaken art "from the cold 
sleep of uncultured it is perhaps significant that 
powerful, independent personalities, Michelangelos 
in sculpture and Bismarcks in politics, do not seem 
to thrive under the Emperor's protection. 

i93 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

This eighteenth day of December has a certain 
significance in the history of our art here in Berlin, 
from the fact that that revered protector of the 
Muses, my late father, and my mother, who was so 
gifted in the arts, dedicated on that day, fifteen 
years ago, the Anthropological Museum. This 
was in a way the last great closing act which my 
father accomplished in this direction, and I look 
upon it as a special piece of good fortune that it is 
on precisely this day of the year that the works 
for the Siegesallee could be completed. 

I seize with joy the opportunity to express to 
you all, first, my congratulations and, secondly, 
my thanks for the way and manner in which you 
have helped me to carry out my original plan. 
The accomplishment of the programme for the Sie- 
gesallee has required a number of years, and it was 
the able historiographer of my house, Professor 
Doctor Koser, who put me in a position to as- 
sign to the gentlemen the tasks which it was pos- 
sible for them to carry out. 

Once we had found the historical basis, it was 
possible to go ahead; and after the choice of the 
princes was decided upon, then the most competent 
men in the way of historical research were found 
to help the gentlemen in their work. In this way 
the groups were conceived, and, conditioned to a cer- 
tain degree by history, they gradually took form. 

194 



i 9 oi] TRUE ART 

After this part of the work was done, then, 
naturally, came the hardest question of all: Would 
it be possible, as I hoped, to find enough artists in 
Berlin who would be in a position to give them- 
selves entirely to the execution of this programme ? 

I had in mind when I approached the solution 
of this problem, if I were successful, to show to 
the world what I considered to be the most ad- 
vantageous method of solving an artistic question 
of this character. The best way to go about it, I 
believe, consists not in the appointment of com- 
missions, not in the establishment of all possible 
kinds of prize contests and competitions, but in 
following the old established method which they 
used in classical times and also later in the Middle 
Ages. In this way, the direct intercourse between 
the employer and the artist offers a security for 
the favorable shaping of the work and for the 
successful accomplishment of the task. 

I am especially indebted in this particular to 
Professor Rheinhold Begas in that, when I went 
to him with these thoughts, he made it clear to me 
without further ceremony that there was ab- 
solutely no doubt but that there were enough 
artists of all kinds in Berlin to carry out such an 
idea without difficulty. With his help and on the 
basis of friendships formed in the circle of sculp- 
tors here through visits to exhibitions and studios 

195 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

I did, indeed, succeed in getting together a staff 
with which to proceed in carrying out this task — 
a staff the greater part of which I see gathered 
about me here to-day. 

I believe that you will not deny that I have 
made the execution of the programme developed 
by me as easy as possible for you. I have placed 
the task before you and limited it in a general 
way, but for the rest I have given you absolute 
freedom, not only freedom in the combination 
and composition but precisely that freedom to 
put into it a certain amount of yourselves — a 
thing that every artist must do in order to put 
his own stamp upon his work; for every work of 
art contains within it a kernel of the artist's own 
character. I believe that this experiment, if I 
may call it so, through which the Siegesallee was 
completed, dare be looked upon as a success. 

Although interviews have been necessary be- 
tween me and the artists who were carrying out 
the work in order to settle every doubt and to 
answer every question, no difficulties of a more 
serious nature have shown themselves. I believe, 
therefore, that from this point of view we can 
look back upon the Siegesallee with general satis- 
faction. You have individually solved your prob- 
lems as you saw fit, and I, on my side, have the 
feeling that I have allowed you the fullest measure 

196 



i9oi] TRUE ART 

of freedom and time — a thing I hold to be neces- 
sary for the artist. I have never gone into details 
and have contented myself with giving merely 
the direction, the impulse. 

But it fills me with pride and joy to-day when 
I think that Berlin stands before the whole world 
with a body of artists who are capable of carrying 
out such a magnificent work. It proves that the 
Berlin school of sculpture stands at a height such 
as could hardly have been surpassed even in the 
time of the Renaissance. And I think every one 
of you will agree, without jealousy, that the 
effective example of Rheinhold Begas and his 
conception, based upon his knowledge of the an- 
tique, has been a guide to many of you in the 
working out of this great task. 

Here, also, we could draw a parallel between the 
great achievements in the art of the Middle Ages 
and of the Italians; since in that time, also, the 
sovereign and art-loving prince who offered the 
commissions to the artists at the same time found 
the masters, about whom a crowd of young dis- 
ciples gathered, so that a certain school was in 
this way developed which was able to accomplish 
remarkable things. 

Now, gentlemen, the Pergamon Museum has 
also been opened on this same day, in Berlin. 
I regard that, too, as a very important portion of 

197 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

our art history and as a good omen and a happy 
coincidence. A more magnificent collection cannot 
be imagined than the abundance of beauty which is 
displayed in these rooms before the eyes of the 
astonished observer. 

But how does art stand in the world to-day ? 
It takes its examples and creates out of the great 
sources of Mother Nature; and Nature, in spite 
of her great, apparently boundless, limitless free- 
dom, acts according to everlasting laws which the 
Creator has set for Himself and which can never 
be infringed upon or overstepped without en- 
dangering the development of the world. 

It is the same in art. And in looking upon the 
magnificent remains from the old classic period 
we experience the same feeling. Here, too, an 
eternal, unchanging law rules; the law of beauty 
and harmony — of aesthetics. This law was ex- 
pressed by the ancients in so surprising and power- 
ful a manner and in so complete a form that we, 
for all our modern perceptions and our power of ac- 
complishment, are proud if it can be said of some 
very especially good piece of work: "That is almost 
as good as if it had been done 1900 years ago." 
» "Almost!" Under this impression I shall ask 
you to take this injunction to heart. Sculpture 
has for the most part remained free from the so- 
called modern tendencies and influences; it still 

198 



i9oi] TRUE ART 

stands high and sublime. Keep it so; do not let 
yourselves be led astray by the judgment of men 
and by all sorts of windy doctrines to give up 
these great principles upon which it is based. 

An art which oversteps the laws and boundaries 
which I have indicated is no longer art; it is fac- 
tory work, it is trade; and that no art dare be- 
come. Through the much-misused word "free- 
dom" and under her flag one often falls into 
indefiniteness, boundlessness, conceit. However, 
he who cuts loose from the law of beauty and 
from the feeling for aesthetics and harmony which, 
whether he can express it or not, every man feels 
in his heart; he who thinks the chief thing is to 
turn his thoughts in a certain direction toward 
a definite solution of more technical problems, sins 
against the very sources of his art. 

Furthermore, art must help to educate the peo- 
ple; it must also give the lower classes, after 
their cramping exertions, the opportunity to right 
themselves again through ideals. To us, the Ger- 
man people, great ideals are a lasting possession, 
while with other peoples they have been more or 
less lost. It is now the German people whose 
special province it is to protect these great ideas, 
to foster them, to set them forth; and to these 
ideas belongs the duty of giving to those classes 
who tire themselves out through labor the op- 
portunity to raise themselves through beautiful 

199 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

things and to work themselves out of and above 
their ordinary circles of thought. 

If, however, art, as often happens nowadays, 
does nothing more than to make misery even more 
hideous than it already is, then it sins against the 
German people. The fostering of the ideal is the 
greatest work of culture; and if we wish to be and 
to remain a pattern in this for other peoples, then 
we must all work together; and if culture is to 
accomplish its full task, then it must penetrate 
through to the very lowest strata of the people. 
That it can only do if art lends a hand, if it raises 
up instead of drawing down into the gutter. 

As ruler, I often feel very bitter that art, through 
her masters, should not be energetic enough to 
make a stand against such tendencies. I do not 
doubt for a moment but that many an earnest 
but misguided character, perhaps filled with the 
best intentions, is to be found among the devotees 
of this tendency. The real artist needs no ad- 
vertising, no press, no connections. I do not be- 
lieve that your great examples in the realm of 
science, either in ancient Greece or in Italy or in 
the time of the Renaissance, used any such methods 
as are now often practised through the press to 
bring their ideas especially into the foreground. 
They worked as God directed them; for the rest 
they allowed the world to criticise. 

And that is the way an honorable, sincere 
200 



igoij MONUMENT TO VON ROSENBERG 

artist must act. Art which stoops to advertising 
is no longer art, were it praised to the skies. Every 
one, be he never so simple, has a feeling for that 
which is beautiful or ugly, and it is to foster this 
feeling further among the people that I have need 
of all of you; and that you should have accom- 
plished such a piece of work in the Siegesallee, 
I, therefore, thank you particularly. 

I may now confide something to you. The im- 
pression which the Siegesallee makes upon for- 
eigners is quite overwhelming; everywhere an 
immense respect for German sculpture is notice- 
able. May you remain standing upon these 
heights; may also my children and my grand- 
children, if they shall one day be granted to me, 
keep the same masters by their side! Then, I am 
convinced, our people will be in a position to love 
the beautiful and to hold high the ideal. 

I raise my glass and drink to the health of all 
of you; and, once more, my heartiest thanks. 



MONUMENT TO GENERAL VON ROSENBERG 

April 20, 1902 

A monument was erected to the famous cavalry 
general Von Rosenberg, in Hanover. After the un- 
veiling of the monument the Emperor responded 
to Count von Waldersee's toast as follows: 

201 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [April 

To-day I greet all the cavalry of the German 
army. Even from his grave the general's per- 
sonality has issued so magic and so powerful an 
appeal that it has called the horsemen together 
from all quarters of the German Empire and from 
the contingents of my affiliated rulers, so that to- 
day for the first time our German cavalry is 
gathered together in a single great cohort. 

We wish to draw a lesson from this day. As 
the general recognized only his service and the 
call of duty, may we do likewise ! The highest 
reward that can come to an officer through his 
service in life is to fill his position to his own com- 
plete satisfaction. Looking back over the life of 
General von Rosenberg, we can compose a proverb 
which should apply to us also, now and for all 
time: "Know your aim, and then exert every 
effort." Let that be the standard for our cavalry ! 

So may we also create for ourselves from this 
simple monument a symbol and an example. A 
block of granite from the mark bears the features 
of the general inlaid in bronze; so may we hedge 
and protect that piece of granite of our army 
which we call the cavalry and allow it to harden, 
so that he who bites upon it may lose his teeth I* 

* A phrase of Frederick the Great which Count Bulow had used 
in the Reichstag January 8, 1902, in speaking of the English Colonial 
Secretary Chamberlain's attack on the German army. 

202 



1902] THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH 

With this wish I raise my glass and drink to the 
memory of the general, to the German cavalry, and 
to its most conspicuous representative, the General 
Field-Marshal. Count von Waldersee. Hurrah! 



THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH 

Aix, June 19, 1902 

The Emperor, accepting an invitation from the 
city, came to Aix with the Empress and the Crown 
Prince. It was here that Charlemagne was prob- 
ably born and here that he died. The present 
Rathaus was built upon the ruins of his palace, 
and it was in the so-called Coronation Room that 
the Emperor delivered his address. 

In the name of her Majesty, the Empress, and 
in my name I thank you particularly for the in- 
describably patriotic and enthusiastic reception 
which has been prepared for us by all classes of 
the city of Aix. I earnestly desired to visit the 
city of Aix, and I thank you for the opportunity 
which you have given me through your invita- 
tion. 

Who would not be deeply moved on such his- 
toric ground as that of Aix by the breath and 
murmur of the past and of the present? Who 
would not think of the providential guidance of 
Heaven as he looks back over the history of the 

203 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

centuries which our Fatherland has lived through 
in its connection with Aix? 

Aix is the cradle of German imperialism, for it 
was here that Charlemagne erected his throne, 
and the city of Aix shone in his reflected glory. 
So important, so imposing was the figure of this 
great German prince that from Rome the dignity 
of the Roman Caesars was bestowed upon him, 
and he was chosen to enter into the inheritance 
of the Imperium Romanum — certainly a splendid 
recognition of the capability of our German stock 
as it appeared for the first time in history. For 
the Roman sceptre had fallen from the hands of 
the Caesars and their successors. Crumbling and 
decayed, the Roman edifice was tottering to its 
fall, and only the appearance of the victorious 
Germans with their virtuous dispositions made 
it possible to point a new and as yet untrodden 
road for the history of the world. It goes without 
saying that the mighty Charles, the great King of 
the Franks, drew upon himself the gaze of Rome 
which looked to him as to its bulwark and pro- 
tector. 

But the task of combining the office of Roman 
Emperor with the dignity and burden of the Ger- 
man King was too severe. What he was able to 
accomplish through his powerful personality Fate 
denied to his followers; and through their desire 

204 



i 9 o 2 ] THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH 

for a world-empire, the Emperors of the later 
generations lost sight of the German people and 
country. They turned toward the south in order 
to maintain the world-empire, and in so doing 
forgot the Germans. So gradually our German 
country and people perished. 

Just as the blossoming aloe gathers up all the 
strength of the plant for this task and, striving 
upward, develops flower on flower and fascinates 
the eye of the astonished beholder, while the plant 
itself withers and its roots shrivel away, so it was 
with the Roman Empire of the German Nation. 

Another empire has now arisen. The German 
people are now blessed with another Emperor, 
whom they had themselves gone out to seek. 
Sword in hand, on the field of battle, the crown 
was won, and the flag of the empire flutters high 
in the breeze once more. With the same en- 
thusiasm and love with which the German people 
held to the imperial idea has the new empire en- 
tered into being; but the tasks are now different. 
Limited from without by the boundaries of our 
country, it became our duty to steel ourselves 
from within in preparation for the duties which 
were then laid upon our people and which could 
not be discharged in the Middle Ages. 

And so we see the empire, although still young, 
growing strong within itself from year to year, 

205 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

while confidence in it is becoming more and more 
secure on every side. The powerful German army, 
however, affords a support to the peace of Europe. 
In keeping with the character of the Germans, we 
limit ourselves from without in order to remain 
free within. Far away over the sea our speech is 
spreading, and far away flows the stream of our 
knowledge and research. There is no work in the 
realm of later research which is not written in 
our language, and no thought is born of science 
which is not first utilized by us in order later to be 
taken over by other nations. And this is that 
world-empire which the German spirit strives for. 
If we, then, wish to discharge adequately our fur- 
ther great responsibilities, we dare not forget that 
the foundation on which the empire was built is 
based upon simplicity and the fear of God as well 
as the lofty moral conceptions of our ancestors. 
Heavily, indeed, was the hand of our God laid upon 
us at the beginning of the previous century, and 
mighty was the arm of Providence which shaped 
the steel and welded it in the furnace of misery 
until the weapon was finished. 

And so I expect of you all that, whether church- 
men or laymen, you will help me to maintain re- 
ligion among the people. We must work together 
in order to preserve the moral foundations and the 
healthy strength of the German stock. But that 

206 



i 9 02] THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH 

can only be done if we preserve its religion, and this 
is true equally of Catholics and Protestants. 

I am, therefore, the more pleased to-day, to 
bring to the leaders of the church who are here 
represented a bit of news of which I am proud 
to be the bearer. Beside me stands General von 
Loe, a faithful servant of his Kings. He was sent 
to Rome to the jubilee of the Holy Father, and 
when he delivered to him my gift and my con- 
gratulations and in private conversation had ex- 
plained how things stood in our German country 
the Holy Father answered him that he was happy 
to be able to say that he had always thought 
highly of the piety of the Germans and of the Ger- 
man army; he said he could even go further and 
commissioned General von Loe to report the fol- 
lowing to his Emperor: The German Empire is 
the only* country in Europe in which training, 
order, and discipline rule, in which respect for 
authority and reverence for the church exist, and 
in which every Catholic can live freely and un- 
disturbed in his faith, and for this he thanked the 
German Emperor. 

This, gentlemen, justifies me in saying that both 
our churches, standing side by side, must forever 
have before their eyes the idea of strengthening 

* The word "only" has not received official sanction, but is printed 
by Penzler. 

207 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

and preserving the fear of God and respect for 
religion. The fact that we are modern men and 
that we work in this or that field makes no dif- 
ference. Whoever does not base his life upon 
religion is lost. 

And as it is fitting on this day and in this place 
not merely to speak but also to make a pledge, 
I hereby express my vow that I set myself and my. 
house, the entire empire, the entire people, and my 
army, symbolically represented by this baton, 
under the cross and under the protection of Him 
of whom the great apostle said, "Neither is there 
salvation in any other; for there is none other 
name under heaven given among men whereby we 
must be saved," and who has said of Himself: 
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words 
shall not pass away." 

I drink to the health of the city of Aix in the 
firm conviction that the words which I have 
spoken will here fall upon good ground, just as I 
am assured from what I have seen among both the 
older and younger citizens of this city that our 
house and our throne will in the future likewise 
find firm support within their walls. Long live 
the city of Aix ! 



208 



i 9 02] KRUPP AND THE SOCIALISTS 

ALFRED KRUPP AND THE SOCIALISTS 

November 26, 1902 

The present speech and the one which follows it, 
to the working men in Breslau, may conveniently 
be taken together, as they both concern the Em- 
peror's attitude toward the Socialists. Of all his 
policies, his attempt to destroy this political party 
has been least successful. It had increased from 
763,000 in 1887 to 4,250,000 in 191 2, when it 
numbered more than twice as many voters as its 
nearest competitor, the Centre party, 1,996,000. 
The Emperor had tried to introduce repeatedly 
subversion acts which would have made for the 
persecution of this the largest political party in 
his empire. When, on October 13, 1895, a manu- 
facturer was murdered in Miilhausen by a work- 
man who had been repeatedly convicted of theft, 
William II telegraphed to his widow: "Another 
sacrifice to the revolutionary movement engen- 
dered by the Socialists." This hostile attitude 
was unavailing and aroused the criticism of the 
greatest German historian, Mommsen: 

"It is unfortunately true that at the present 
time the Social Democracy is the only great party 
which has any claim to political respect. It is 
not necessary to refer to talent. Everybody in 
Germany knows that with brains like those of 
Bebel it would be possible to furnish forth a 
dozen noblemen from east of the Elbe in a fashion 
that would make them shine among their peers. 

"The devotion, the self-sacrificing spirit of the 
209 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

Social Democratic masses, impresses even those 
who are far from sharing their aims. Our Liberals 
might well take a lesson from the discipline of 
the party." And again, only about a week after 
this speech of the Emperor's Mommsen wrote: 

"There must be an end of the superstition, as 
false as it is perfidious, that the nation is divided 
into parties of law and order on the one hand 
and a party of revolution on the other, and that 
it is the prime political duty of citizens belonging 
to the former category to shun the labor party as 
if it were in quarantine for the plague and to 
combat it as the enemy of the state." 

The Emperor has had many friends among the 
leaders in the industrial world. Alfred Krupp 
had stood in close relation to his sovereign and 
had been one of the founders and prime movers 
in the German Navy League, which, more than 
anything else, had made possible the realization 
of the imperial naval policy. The Emperor is 
altogether mistaken in ascribing the stories cir- 
culated about Krupp to the malignity of Social 
Democratic editors. Very ugly rumors, whether 
true or false, had long before this time circulated 
about this industrial leader; they could have been 
heard in other countries of Europe, especially in 
Italy, and most particularly in Tiberius's island 
of Capri, where he is said to have had a villa. 

The address was delivered in the waiting-room 
of the station at Essen on the day of Krupp's 
funeral. 



2IO 



1902] KRUPP AND THE SOCIALISTS 

I feel the need of expressing to you how deeply 
my heart is moved by the death of this man. Her 
Majesty, the Empress and Queen, wishes me to 
express to you her grief also, and she has already 
expressed it in writing to Frau Krupp. I have 
often, with my wife, been a guest in the Krupp 
house and have felt the charm of his lovable 
personality. Our relations have become so well 
established in the course of the years that I dare 
call myself a friend of the deceased and of his 
house. On this account I have not wished to 
deny myself the privilege of appearing here to-day 
at his funeral, and I hold it to be my duty to stand 
at the side of the widow and daughters of my 
friend. 

The peculiar circumstances which accompanied 
the sad event also make it incumbent upon me 
to be here as the head of the German Empire, to 
hold the shield of the German Emperor over the 
house and the memory of this man. Whoever 
knew the deceased intimately knows with what 
a sensitive and delicate nature he was endowed 
and that this was the one vulnerable point through 
which to deal him a death-blow. He was the 
victim of his unimpeachable integrity. 

An event has occurred within the German coun- 
tries so degrading and low that it has aroused all 
hearts and must bring the blush of shame to the 

211 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

cheeks of every German patriot, because of the 
disgrace brought upon our entire people. The 
honor of a man, German to the core, who lived 
only for others, who had in his mind only the wel- 
fare of the Fatherland, but above all that of his 
employees, has been assailed. 

This deed, with its consequences, is nothing less 
than murder; for there is no difference between 
him who mixes a poisonous drink and offers it to 
another and him who from the safe ambush of 
his editor's office destroys the honorable name of a 
fellow man with the poisoned arrows of his slanders 
and kills him through the torment of soul caused 
by them. 

Who was it that began this shameful attack 
upon our friend ? Men who up to the present 
have been counted as Germans, but who are now 
unworthy of this name, who sprang from the 
classes of the German working people, who have 
such a tremendous amount to thank Krupp for 
and of whom thousands in the streets with tearful 
faces waved a last farewell to the bier of their 
benefactor. 

You, Krupp's workmen, have ever held faith- 
fully to your employer and have clung to him; 
gratitude is not wiped out of your hearts. With 
pride I have seen everywhere abroad the name 
of the Fatherland honored through the work of 

212 



i 9 02] THE WORKING MAN ONCE MORE 

your hands. Men who wish to be the leaders of 
the German workmen have robbed you of your 
dear master. It remains for you to shield and 
protect him and to preserve his memory from dis- 
grace. 

I trust, therefore, that you will find the proper 
means of making it clear to the body of German 
working men that it is important hereafter to 
make it impossible for good and honorable working 
men to have any community of interest or close 
relationship with the perpetrators of this shameful 
deed; for it is the honor of the working man that 
has been besmirched. Whoever will sit at the 
same table with these people deliberately lays 
himself open to a charge of moral participation 
in the crime. 

I have sufficient confidence in the German 
laborers to believe that they are conscious of the 
extreme seriousness of the present moment and 
that, as German men, they will find a solution for 
this difficult question. 

THE WORKING MAN ONCE MORE 

Breslau, December 5, 1902 

That the working men of Breslau have decided 
to come to me, their King and father, fills me 
with the greatest satisfaction, for two reasons. 

213 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Dec. 

In the first place, you have not disappointed the 
expectations which I expressed in Essen; in the 
second, you have helped thereby to maintain free 
from reproach the memory of my late friend 
Krupp. 

From my heart I thank the spokesman for his 
cordial, patriotic words. You show thereby that 
an honorable attitude and a dependence upon the 
King and the Fatherland are taking firm root 
among you. Your condition has indeed become 
the object of my deepest interest and considera- 
tion, for I observed with pride in foreign lands 
how the German working man was considered 
above all others, and with justice. Your hearts 
may exult and you may well rejoice in your work 
and your condition. 

Led by the remarkable message* of the great 
Emperor William I, I have improved the social 
legislation so that a good and secure condition of 
existence has been created for the working men 
through old age, and this has been accomplished 
often at great sacrifice to the employer. And our 
Germany is the only country in which legislation 
relating to the welfare of the working classes has 
developed to any great degree. 

On the ground of the great concern which your 
King has for your condition I am justified in 

* See footnote to " First Declaration of Policy," June 25, 1888. 
214 



1902] THE WORKING MAN ONCE MORE 

giving you also a word of warning. For years you 
and your brothers have allowed yourselves to be 
deluded by the agitators of the Socialists into 
thinking that if you do not belong to this party 
and acknowledge it no orie pays any attention to 
you and that you will not be in a position to obtain 
a hearing for your just interests in the amelioration 
of your condition. 

This is a gross lie and a serious error. Instead 
of representing you directly, the agitators seek 
to stir you up against your employers, against the 
other classes, against the throne, and against the 
church, and have in this way taken advantage of 
you, terrorized you, and flattered you in order to 
strengthen their own power. And to what end is 
this power used ? Not for furthering your welfare, 
but for sowing hatred between the classes and for 
disseminating cowardly slanders that respect 
nothing as sacred; and finally they have outraged 
the Almighty Himself. 

As honor-loving men you cannot and dare not 
have anything more to do with such people, and 
you must no longer be led by them. No ! Send 
us as representatives your friends and comrades 
from your own ranks, the simple, plain man from 
the shop who has your confidence. Such a man 
stands for your interests and your wishes, and we 
will gladly welcome him as the representative of 

215 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

the German working classes, not as a Social Demo- 
crat. With such representatives of the working 
classes, no matter how many there may be, we 
will gladly work together for the good of the 
people and of the country. 

In this way your future will be well cared for, 
especially since it naturally and closely depends 
upon loyalty to the King, upon respect for law and 
for the state, for the honor of one's fellow men and 
brothers, true to the proverb: "Fear God, love 
your brothers, and honor the King." 



SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION 

Berlin, February 15, 1903 

As a result of a lecture before the Oriental 
Society of Berlin, a very serious controversy arose 
in religious circles in Germany. The Emperor 
gave his opinion in the following open letter, which 
was printed in the Grenzboten. It is said that this 
very significant letter shows the influence of the 
court chaplain, Doctor Dryander. Certain of the 
ideas are, however, thoroughly characteristic of 
the Emperor. 

My Dear Hollmann: 

My telegram to you must have removed the 
doubts which you still entertained regarding the 
conclusion of the lecture. It was perfectly clearly 

216 



1903] SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION 

understood by the audience and therefore had to 
stand as it does; but I am very pleased that 
through your inquiry the matter of this second 
lecture was again taken up, and I am glad to take 
this occasion, after reading through the section 
again, to present my position in a clear light. 
During an evening meeting among ourselves Pro- 
fessor Delitzsch had the opportunity, with her Maj- 
esty, the Empress, and General Superintendent 
Dryander, to confer and discuss thoroughly for 
several hours, during which I remained a passive 
listener. He, unfortunately, departed from the 
standpoint of the thoroughgoing historian and 
Assyriologist and penetrated into the region of 
theological and religious conclusions and hy- 
potheses, which were hazy and bold. When, 
however, he came to the New Testament it soon 
became evident that I could not agree with him 
in the ideas which he developed concerning the 
person of the Redeemer, and I was compelled to 
state my own standpoint, which was diametrically 
opposed to his. He does not recognize the divinity 
of Christ and therefore concludes in regard to the 
Old Testament that it does not refer to Him as 
the Messiah. Here the Assyriologist and investi- 
gating historian ceases and the theologian with 
all his lights and shades steps in. In this province 
I can only advise him to go very carefully, step by 

217 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

step, and in any case to ventilate his theories only 
in theological publications and in the circles of 
his colleagues and to spare us laymen and espe- 
cially the Oriental Society, before whose forum all 
this is out of place. We excavate and read what- 
ever we find and publish it for the advancement of 
knowledge and history, but not in order to help 
justify or combat the religious hypotheses of any 
one of many learned men. 

In Delitzsch's case the theologian has run away 
with the historian, and the latter serves merely 
as a point of departure for the former. I think it 
unfortunate that Delitzsch should not have stuck 
to his original programme, which he developed 
in former years, namely, on the basis of the dis- 
coveries of our society, to ascertain through scien- 
tifically approved translations of the Scriptures 
how far these offer an illustration of the chron- 
icle of the people of Israel; that is, enlightenment 
as to historical events, customs, and uses, tradi- 
tions, politics, legislation, etc.; in other words, how 
far the undeniably highly developed Babylonian 
culture came into contact with the Israelites, could 
work upon them, yes, even impress its stamp 
upon them, and thereby accomplish, from a purely 
human point of view, a sort of rehabilitation 
for the Babylonians, who were, according to'the 
Old Testament at least, a very crude, shameful, 

218 



i9o 3 l SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION 

and one-sided people. That was his original in- 
tention, at least as I understood it, and a province 
very fruitful and interesting to us all, the investi- 
gation, explanation, and exposition of which must 
have interested us laymen to the highest degree 
and would have demanded our deepest gratitude. 
But he should have stuck to this. Unfortunately, 
however, in his zeal he has overshot the mark. 
As was to be expected, the excavations brought 
to light communications which bear in a religious 
way upon the Old Testament. He should have 
collated this material and pointed out and ex- 
plained coincidences, when such occurred, but he 
should have left it to the listener to draw for 
himself all purely religious conclusions. In this 
way his discourse would have commanded the 
interest and good-will of the lay public. That, 
unfortunately, he has not done. Pretending that 
he could explain it all on historical and purely 
human grounds, he has attacked the question of 
revelation in a very polemical manner and more 
or less denied it. That was a serious mistake, 
because he touched many of his hearers in what 
was deepest and most sacred to them. And 
whether he was right or wrong — that for the mo- 
ment is all one, since we are concerned not with 
a purely scientific gathering of theologians but 
with laymen of all kinds and conditions — he has 

219 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

overturned and rudely shaken many favorite con- 
ceptions and images with which these people 
connect sacred and cherished ideas and has ruth- 
lessly shaken the foundation of their belief, if he 
has not swept it away altogether, a thing which 
only a mighty genius dare be bold enough to 
undertake and which the study of Assyriology 
alone does not justify. Goethe also once treated 
this subject and pointed out especially that one 
must be careful before a great, general public 
to break down only " Terminologiepagoden" [the 
pagodas of terminology]. The excellent professor, 
in his zeal, has overlooked the principle that it is 
very necessary to distinguish between what is 
and what is not fitting to the place, the public, 
etc. As a theological specialist he can, through 
the avenue of special publications, express for his 
circle of colleagues his theses, hypotheses, and 
theories as well as his convictions, which it 
would not do to express in a popular lecture or 
book. 

I would like now to come back once more to my 
own personal standpoint in regard to the doctrine 
or view of revelation, as I have often explained it 
to you, my dear Hollmann, and to other gentle- 
men. I distinguish between two different kinds of 
revelation: one a continuous and in a manner 
historical revelation; the other a purely religious 

220 



1903] SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION 

one, preparing for the later appearance of the 
Messiah. 

In the first place, let me say, there is not the 
slightest doubt in my mind but that God reveals 
Himself, always and permanently, through the 
human race which He created. He has " blown 
the breath of His nostrils" into man; that is, He 
has given him a piece of Himself — a soul. With 
fatherly love and interest He follows the develop- 
ment of mankind; in order to lead and advance 
it further, He " reveals " Himself in this or that 
great sage or priest or king, be he heathen, Jew, 
or Christian. Hammurabi was one, so were Moses, 
Abraham, Homer, Charlemagne, Luther, Shake- 
speare, Goethe, Kant, Emperor William the 
Great. These He has sought out and made-wor- 
thy, through His grace, to accomplish according to 
His will splendid and imperishable deeds for their 
people in the spiritual as well as in the physical 
world. How often has my grandfather expressly 
said that he was only an instrument in the hand 
of the Lord. The works of great spirits are given 
to the people by God in order that they may 
imitate them and feel their way further through 
the intricacies of the unexplored regions of this 
life. Certainly God has "revealed" Himself in 
different ways at different times, according to the 
condition and culture of the people, and still does 

221 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

so to-day. For, as we are overcome by the great- 
ness and power of the magnificent nature of crea- 
tion and are astounded to see in it the revealed 
greatness of God, so, just as surely, do we thank- 
fully recognize in every really great and splendid 
thing which a man or a god does the splendor 
of the revelation of God. He works directly upon 
and among us ! 

The second kind of revelation, the more relig- 
ious, is that which relates to the coming of our 
Lord. From the time of Abraham on it is intro- 
duced slowly but prophetically — the coming of 
the All- wise, the All-knowing; for mankind would 
otherwise have been lost. And now begins the 
most wonderful phenomenon of all, the revelation 
of God. The seed of Abraham and the people who 
developed from it regard as the most sacred thing 
in the world a rigorous belief in a single God. 
They must cherish it — . Separated during the 
Egyptian exile, the scattered portions, welded to- 
gether a second time by Moses, strove ever to 
hold fast to their belief in a single God. It was 
the direct working of God upon these people 
which allowed them to rise again. And so it 
continues further down the centuries until the 
Messiah, who was announced and foretold by 
the prophets and psalmists, finally appears. The 
greatest revelation of God in the world ! For He 

222 



1903] SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION 

appeared in the person of His Son; Christ is God; 
God in human form. He redeemed us, He in- 
spires us, He draws us on to follow Him, we feel 
His fire burning within us, His pity strengthens 
us, His dissatisfaction destroys us, but His inter- 
cession saves us. Sure of victory, building only 
upon His Word, we go through work, scorn, sor- 
row, misery, and death, for we have in Him the 
revealed Word of God and He never deceives. 

That is the way I look at these questions. The 
Word of God has, through Luther, become every- 
thing, especially for us Evangelicals; and as a good 
theologian Delitzsch should not have forgotten 
that our great Luther taught us to sing and to 
believe: "Ye shall let the Word stand !" For me 
it goes without saying that the Old Testament 
contains a great number of extracts which are of 
purely human origin and not "the revealed Word 
of God." There are purely historical descriptions 
of events of all kinds which took place in the life 
of the people of Israel in the realm of political, 
religious, moral, and spiritual matters. So, for 
instance, the giving of the law on Mount Sinai 
may be looked upon as inspired by God in only a 
symbolical sense; for Moses was compelled to 
have recourse to some means of giving new force 
to old and well-known portions of the law (which 
were probably derived from the Codex of Ham- 

223 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

murabi). Otherwise he might not have been able 
to unite and weld together a people whose or- 
ganization had become lax and incapable of re- 
sistance. Here the historian can perhaps construe 
from the sense and the run of the words some re- 
lation to the laws of Hammurabi, the friend of 
Abraham, which would perhaps be perfectly 
logical; that would, however, in no way detract 
from the fact that God inspired Moses to do it 
and in so far revealed Himself to the people of 
Israel. 

As I see it, therefore, our good professor ought 
hereafter to avoid handling and bringing forward 
religion, as such, in his addresses to our society. 
On the other hand, he may continue unmolested 
to bring forward whatever connections there may 
be between the religion, customs, etc., of the 
Babylonians, etc., and the Old Testament. From 
which I derive the following conclusions: 

(a) I believe in one God, and one only. 

(b) In order to teach this we need a form, espe- 
cially for our children. 

(c) This form has been up to the present time 
the Old Testament in its present state. Through 
investigation, inscriptions, and excavations, this 
form will certainly change materially; that does 
not matter, and even the fact that much will be 
lost from the nimbus of the chosen people does not 

224 



1903] FREDERICK THE GREAT 

matter. The kernel and the content remain ever 
the same: God and His work! 

Religion was never the result of science but the 
outpouring of the heart and being of man in his 
intercourse with God. 

With heartiest thanks and many greetings, 

Your true friend, 
(Signed) William, I. R. 

P. S. You may make the fullest use of these 
lines; whoever wants to may read them. 

FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS ARMY 

Doberitz, May 29, 1903 

After conducting the manoeuvres of the guard 
the Emperor dedicated the obelisk to Frederick 
the Great. The character and achievements of 
Frederick have been summarized in chapter I. 

One hundred and fifty years ago, on these same 
fields, his Majesty, Frederick II, who even in 
his lifetime was called "the Great/' gathered to- 
gether a considerable part of his army in order to 
train and steel it for the mighty struggles which 
he foresaw in spirit through his prophetic vision. 
So important was this preparation for him that 
he did not hesitate to trust his columns to the 
direction of his experienced field-marshals. Here 
the great soldier King, working restlessly, not 

225 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

overlooking details in his interest for the greater 
concerns of history, trained his regiments for the 
difficult tasks of the Seven Years' War, which was 
soon to set in, and created that inner bond be- 
tween himself and his soldiers which inspired 
them to the greatest deeds of daring, while he 
infused his spirit into his generals and so laid the 
foundation for the unmatched results which found 
their crowning achievement in the victorious over- 
throw of a world in arms united against him. Let 
these achievements be unforgotten; unforgotten 
the names of the heroes of that great time. 

Frederick's enemies derisively called his little 
army the "Potsdamer Wachtparade" [the " Potsdam 
Guard's Parade"] ! Well, he showed them what 
he could do at the head of it ! And in later times 
likewise the "Potsdam Guard's Parade" fittingly 
showed the way to every one who tried to cultivate 
too close an acquaintance with it. This obelisk 
of northern granite is erected in memory of that 
time. A memorial to "Fredericus Rex, the King 
and Hero," to be emulated by us all in working 
with unabated strength to the end that we may 
be ready to strike in any emergency. When in a 
moment the curtain shall fall, when the flags and 
standards dip in greeting, swords are lowered, and 
presented bayonets glisten — all this is done in 
honor not only of this block of stone but of him, 

226 



1903] THE FUTURE OF GERMANY 

the great King, his generals and field-marshals; 
of his great successor, William the Great, and his 
paladins, who now, assembled around the Great 
Ally above, look down upon us; and in honor of 
Prussia's glorious martial history and tradition. 
Attention, present arms ! 

THE FUTURE OF GERMANY 

Hamburg, June 20, 1903 

The equestrian statue of Emperor William I 
was dedicated in Hamburg, June 20, 1903. The 
Emperor's interest in glorifying and occasionally 
even in sanctifying his ancestors is frequently 
noticeable. He has tried to assure to his grand- 
father the title of William the Great, and the 
Emperor's friend Ballin, of the Hamburg-American 
Line, has -given this title as well as that of Impera- 
tor to the well-known transatlantic steamers. It 
is perhaps significant that Bismarck is not men- 
tioned. The pedestal of this monument was left 
blank. As has been noted, rumor has it that the 
citizens of Hamburg were unwilling to bestow 
this title and feared to offend with the simpler 
"William I." 

It has often been my task to express my thanks 
to great cities and their enthusiastic citizens; 
never have I found it so difficult to find the correct, 
pertinent, and adequate expression for what I feel 
and what I have seen and experienced. 

227 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

If, first of all, I may speak as grandson of the 
great Emperor, whose bronze likeness the city of 
Hamburg has just unveiled, I would like to give 
utterance to the gratitude which so stirs my heart, 
that the citizens of Hamburg have been able in 
such a brilliant, handsome, and noble manner to 
show their feeling for Germany and their gratitude 
to the old hero. As his grandson, this has pleased 
me greatly and has stirred me deeply. 

For the rest, I cannot forbear to emphasize the 
truly overwhelming reception which was accorded 
me here by great and small, young and old, high 
and low. The many thousand faces which lighted 
toward me to-day gave evidence that the greeting 
came from the heart and from feelings which were 
deeply moved, and I beg the senate and the 
citizens to accept my heartiest, sincerest, and 
warmest thanks and to communicate them to 
the city. 

Indeed, for the younger generation which stood 
with us about the bronze portrait to-day the 
great Emperor is already a historical personage, 
and the events which weave themselves about his 
person and the time in which he worked are al- 
ready described in history. 

I believe that I am not presuming if I prophesy 
that some time in future centuries the awe-in- 
spiring figure of my grandfather will stand forth 

228 



1903] THE FUTURE OF GERMANY 

before the German people, surrounded by at least 
as many legends and as powerful and as conspicu- 
ous for all time as once the figure of the Emperor 
Barbarossa was. Truly, the younger generation 
is accustomed to look upon what we call the em- 
pire, together with what it has brought us, without 
thinking what it has cost to arrive at this point. 
And I believe we recognize the hand of Provi- 
dence when we look upon that awe-inspiring 
figure which stands yonder in its peaceful attitude 
before the Rathaus, with its earnestness and its 
silent tranquillity of old age. It was precisely, 
this man whom Providence sought out to ac- 
complish this hardest of all tasks — the uniting of 
the German races. For no one could resist the 
charm of the personality, the simple modesty, 
the winning lovableness of the lofty ruler; and 
so it was permitted to him, surrounded by his 
powerful paladins who were devoted to him and 
who worked with him, to smooth the way and 
reconcile the differences; while he kept ever before 
his eyes the goal, the union of the Fatherland. 
During a long time of peace, in quiet work his 
thoughts ripened and the plans of the already 
gray-haired man were ready when the mighty 
task came to him of once more reviving the 
empire. I hope that the youth of Hamburg, when 
they pass this monument, will never forget the 

229 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

time of preparation through which this noble ruler 
lived. 

With justice you speak of the time of Em- 
peror William as great and powerful — powerful 
in its impulses, mighty in its flaming enthusiasm. 
Gentlemen, I think that our time is also great. 
The tasks which were assigned to the great Em- 
peror have been accomplished; yet when things 
for a while seem dark and the tasks which are 
assigned us seem too hard we must not forget 
what that noble ruler endured. Let us not 
forget that he lived through and remembered 
Jena and Tilsit, and that, nevertheless, he never 
despaired of the future of the Fatherland. From 
Tilsit we travelled to Versailles ! 

And even so is it destined to be in the future; 
there remain tasks for our time also. The great 
Emperor with his great aides has laid the basis, 
the corner-stone of the building; it is for us to 
build upon it ! Therefore it is my opinion and 
firm conviction that a great future awaits us also, 
if we are but determined to make it so. Tasks are 
assigned to us, and, whether they are light or 
heavy, we must face them as well as we are able 
and enlist all our strength. Then we shall be 
able to accomplish them and I am convinced that 
now as then the German Empire and the German 
people will never lack the right sort of men. 

230 



1903] THE FUTURE OF GERMANY 

For this reason I turn to-day to that place 
where formerly from the depths of my heart I 
issued an earnest appeal to the German people; 
and I repeat again to-day: "May it remain true 
to its ideals and to itself!" Then, as the block of 
granite yonder bears the great Emperor, so will 
the German people, true to their traditions, bear 
upon their hearts and discharge with their strength 
the new tasks and undertakings which come to 
them. May they enter with decision upon the 
work which Heaven assigns them without asking 
whether it be easy or difficult, without worrying 
as to how they shall accomplish it, provided only 
they are going forward! 

Raise your eyes ! Lift up your heads ! Look to 
the heights, bend your knee before the Great Ally, 
who has never forsaken the Germans, and who, 
if he has at times allowed them to be sorely tried 
and discouraged, has again raised them from the 
dust. Put your hand on your heart, direct your 
gaze into the distance, and from time to time give 
a backward glance for memory to the old Em- 
peror and his time, and I am convinced that, 
as Hamburg is progressing in the world, so will 
our Fatherland progress along the road of en- 
lightenment, the road of improvement, the road 
of practical Christianity: a blessing for mankind, 
a bulwark of peace, the wonder of all countries ! 

231 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

I give this as my firm hope and conviction, and 
to this wish I empty my glass: Long life to the 
city of Hamburg ! — Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



THE REASONS FOR JAPAN'S VICTORY 

March 9, 1905 

It will have been noted that the Emperor 
usually addresses his recruits in very simple 
language. On the occasion of administering the 
oath to the naval recruits at Wilhelmshaven, he 
was concerned about explaining to them the 
reasons for the Japanese victory, for he had 
repeatedly told them that only a good Christian 
can be a good soldier. 

The speech was reported through a letter of 
one of the recruits. 

The Emperor spoke, among other things, of the 
heroic deeds of the Japanese and explained that 
they had sprung from the Japanese love of coun- 
try and children, which had begotten a splendid 
manliness in the army and navy. He said that 
we must not conclude, however, from the Japa- 
nese victories — the victories of a heathen over a 
Christian people — that Buddha was superior to 
our Lord Christ. If Russia was beaten, it was 
due for the most part, according to his opinion, 
to the fact that Christianity in Russia was in a 
pretty bad way; and then, too, there were many 

232 



i9o S ] THE SALT OF THE EARTH 

Christian virtues among the Japanese. A good 
Christian is synonymous with a good soldier ! 

But Christianity is poorly off among the Ger- 
mans also, and he — the Emperor — doubted 
whether we Germans in case of a war would have 
any special right to pray God for victory, to wrest 
it from Him in prayer as Jacob did in his struggle 
with the angel. The Japanese were the scourge 
of God just as once Attila and Napoleon were. 

And so we must take care lest God should have 
to chastise us with such a scourge, etc. The Em- 
peror spoke very earnestly but very impressively 
and simply, so that he could be understood by 
every one. 

THE SALT OF THE EARTH 

Bremen, March 22, 1905 

The following address was delivered at the 
Rathaus in Bremen on the occasion of the dedica- 
tion of the monument to Emperor Frederick III. 
The Emperor here presents his views on the mis- 
sion of Germany in much the same spirit in which 
it is expounded in a number of his addresses of 
this time. He has become increasingly conscious 
of her "manifest destiny" in the decade which 
had passed after the celebrations of the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of the Franco-Prussian War. 
Germany had entered upon a period of great pros- 
perity and had begun to possess the sense of latent 

233 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

power. The Emperor gives us here the purely 
historical reasons which have led him to refrain 
from pretensions to world-dominion. It is signifi- 
cant that his next address will be delivered at 
Morocco. The question naturally arises, what 
hopes or aspirations were in the minds of the audi- 
ence before whom the Emperor made this gran 
rifiuto. It was in a time of insistent agitation by 
the Navy League and the Colonial party. 

My Honored Burgomaster: 

Will you allow me first, with a heart deeply 
moved, to perform the duty of a son and thank 
you sincerely for having transmitted to me the 
wish of your countrymen that I should participate 
in this festive day and be present at the unveiling 
of the unique and splendid statue which the free 
Hanseatic city of Bremen has erected to my 
father? 

I can assure you that it stirred me deeply to-day 
as my eye wandered over the masses of people 
to think that the former Prussian Crown Prince, 
subsequently the first Crown Prince of the Ger- 
man Empire, and, finally, second Hohenzollern Em- 
peror, should be feted in a free German city just 
as though this were his home. It is a proof that 
his figure, as well as that of his great and illustrious 
father, has become a common possession of the 
entire German people. 

234 



1905] THE SALT OF THE EARTH 

I sincerely thank the city of Bremen that it has 
honored my father and his memory in such a 
magnificent manner. You have created a work of 
art, the like of which is not often seen in German 
lands. And I am convinced that in later genera- 
tions his powerful personality, which will have 
become surrounded by the glamour of legend, will 
through this statue be brought nearer to the 
hearts of the people. And I am sure that the 
generations of Bremen which are to follow, from 
father to son, will never forget the second Em- 
peror, whose noble Siegfried figure led the German 
army to victory and whom we have to thank for 
our unity. 

And so, now, beautiful statues of both my 
father and my grandfather stand in this loyal 
German city and furnish mile-stones for the his- 
tory of our Fatherland as well as for the city of 
Bremen. 

Truly, the historical retrospect which you have 
been good enough to present us shows mag- 
nificently the leadership of God and the grace 
which Providence has bestowed upon our people 
and our country. The portion of time which is 
represented by both of these two noble leaders 
who stand here in bronze has, like a foundation- 
stone, been firmly laid in history. It remains for 
later times and their generations to build upon 

235 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

the foundation which these great rulers have set 
down. 

You have had the goodness to express the 
thoughts which stirred you upon a former occasion 
in this same place. They correspond entirely to 
what I myself thought at that time. When, as a 
lad, I stood before the model of the Brommy* ship, 
I bitterly felt the disgrace which our fleet and our 
flag had been forced to suffer. And perhaps, since 
on my mother's side a bit of sea blood flowed into 
my veins, this was the thing which was to give me 
my cue for the manner in which I would envisage 
the tasks which henceforth were to confront the 
empire. 

I swore to the colors when I came to the throne, 
after the mighty time of my grandfather, that, so 
far as in me lay, the bayonet and cannon would 
have to rest, but that bayonet and cannon, how- 
ever, would have to be kept sharp and effective 
in order that jealousy and envy from without 
should not disturb us in the development of our 
garden and our beautiful house. I have made a 
vow, as a result of what I have learned from 

* Bromme (called also Brommy) was a German seaman who served 
in the Greek navy and who was later placed in charge of the Naval 
Commission by the German National Assembly in 1848. He or- 
ganized the first modern German fleet and as admiral drove off the 
three Danish ships blockading the Weser. This navy was considered 
merely a passing necessity, and in 1853 Bromme was retired, after 
the little fleet had been sold at auction. 

236 



i 9 o S ] THE SALT OF THE EARTH 

history, never to strive for an empty world- 
dominion. For what has become of the so-called 
world-empires ? Alexander the Great, Napo- 
leon I — all the great warriors — have swum in 
blood and have left subjugated peoples behind 
them who at the first opportunity have risen up 
again and brought the empire to ruin. 

The world-empire of which I have dreamed 
shall consist in this, that the newly created Ger- 
man Empire shall first of all enjoy on all sides the 
most absolute confidence as a quiet, honorable, 
and peaceful neighbor; and that, if in the future 
they shall read in history of a German world- 
empire or of a Hohenzollern world-ruler, it shall 
not be founded upon acquisitions won with the 
sword but upon the mutual trust of the nations 
who are striving for the same goals. To express 
it briefly, as a great poet has said: "Limited out- 
wardly, but with no limits upon inward develop- 
ment." 

You have mentioned the ships which here hang 
memorially from the ceiling of this beautiful old 
hall. The time in which I grew up was, in spite 
of the great war, not a great and glorious one for 
the seafaring part of our nation. I, too, have here 
drawn the logical conclusions from what my an- 
cestors have done. In a military way much had 
been done within, as was necessary; now the 

237 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [March 

equipment of the navy had to be brought for- 
ward. 

I thank God that I do not have to make a 
desperate appeal here in this town hall as I once 
did in Hamburg.* The fleet is built and is on the 
seas; we have material for crews. The eagerness 
and the spirit are the same as those which filled 
the officers of the Prussian army at Hohenfried- 
berg, at Koniggratz, and at Sedan; and every Ger- 
man war-ship which leaves the slips is one more 
guarantee for peace on land. We are correspond- 
ingly more powerful as allies, and our opponents 
will be correspondingly less willing to offer us 
any aggression. 

To-day, as I scanned the citizens of Bremen, 
I saw the old and the young standing next each 
other — the old with their medals and their crosses, 
comrades in battle and in deeds under both the 
great leaders whose statues stand in this city, 
and before them stand the youth who shall grow 
up to the new empire and its tasks. 

What will these tasks be ? To develop steadily; 
to shun strife, hate, division, and jealousy; to 
rejoice in the German Fatherland as it is and not 
to strive after the impossible; to hold fast to the 

* The appeal referred to is the speech delivered at Hamburg on 
October 18, 1899, with its famous "Bitterly do we need a powerful 
fleet." 

238 



i 9 o 5 ] THE SALT OF THE EARTH 

conviction that our God would never have taken 
such great pains with our German Fatherland and 
its people if he had not been preparing us for some- 
thing still greater. 

We are the salt of the earth, but we must also 
be worthy to be so. Therefore must our youth 
learn to give up and deny themselves what is not 
good for them, to put far from them the things 
which have slipped in from foreign peoples, and to 
preserve their morals, good conduct, reverence, and 
religion. Then some day may we write over the 
German people the motto on the helmet of the 
1st Regiment of my guard: " Semper talis" — 
"Ever the Same." Then we shall be looked upon 
from all sides with respect and in a measure with 
love as a safe and trustworthy people and can 
stand with our hand on our sword-hilt and with 
our shield grounded before us and say: " Tamen, 
come what will." 

I am sure that my words will fall upon good 
ground here in Bremen. Earnestly I hope that 
the golden peace which up to the present with 
God's help we have maintained we may preserve 
still further and that under this peace Bremen 
may grow green, may bloom, and prosper. That 
is my innermost wish. Long life to Bremen — 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



239 



VI 
ON THE EVE OF MOROCCO 

March 31, 1905— November 17, 1906 
THE MOROCCO QUESTION 

Tangier, March 31, 1905 

On the 8th of April, 1904, an entente which had 
settled all outstanding questions between France 
and Great Britain and gave to Great Britain a 
free hand in Egypt and to France a free hand in 
Morocco was formally signed in London. The 
German Government officially declared that the 
settlement between France and Great Britain 
concerned only these two countries; but the Pan- 
German Society, the Colonial Society, and the 
Navy League began so insistent an agitation that 
the government changed its attitude and the Em- 
peror here declares in no uncertain terms that 
what Germany undertakes in Morocco will be 
done exclusively with the "sovereign Sultan." 
Germany was evidently picking a quarrel with 
France over Morocco, with or without warrant, 
as the case may be, and was trying to ascertain, 
it is generally believed, the closeness of the rela- 
tionship between France and Great Britain. The 
large commercial interests of which the Emperor 

240 



1905] THE MOROCCO QUESTION 

speaks were fairly negligible; though he doubtless 
had the right to protect it, Germany's yearly trade 
there did not amount to as much as that of an 
ordinary department store or of a fairly success- 
ful merchant. For the previous eight years it 
averaged less than half a million dollars annually. 
Her course here has usually been regarded as un- 
necessarily belligerent. 

True to his policy of personal diplomacy, the 
Emperor suddenly appeared at Tangier and while 
there made his speech to the German colony. 

The whole question was taken up at the con- 
ference of Algeciras in 1906. Although the policy 
of "the open door," which protected Germany's 
commercial interests was guaranteed, the very 
general storm of protest in Germany, especially 
on the part of the war party and Navy League, 
showed that she had entered the contest with 
more serious intentions. World policy by ag- 
gressive interference had already been initiated 
when, in the Spanish-American War, the German 
Admiral Diedrichs started to hamper the opera- 
tions of the American fleet at Manila. Morocco 
was looked upon by some, Doctor Liman, for in- 
stance, as a second defeat. In the Algeciras con- 
ference Italy sided with France and England. 
Italy had been continuing as a member of the 
Triple Alliance partly through fear that the 
French would annex Tripoli, which Italy desired. 
England and France had now privately agreed to 
give Italy a free hand. She sided with them and 
it was evident that her vital interests in the Triple 
Alliance had been considerably lessened. As 

241 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

England and Russia were also settling all their 
Eastern points of difference, Germany began to be 
conscious of her isolation, which had been largely 
a result of her attitude and unfortunate diplomacy. 

I am pleased to make the acquaintance of the 
pioneers of Germany in Morocco and to be able 
to tell them that they have done their duty. 

Germany has great commercial interests here. 
I shall advance and protect our commerce, which 
shows a satisfying increase, and for that reason 
shall insist upon equal rights with all powers, 
which is only possible through the sovereignty 
of the Sultan and the independence of the country. 
For Germany both of these must be unquestioned, 
and I am, therefore, ready to intervene for them 
at all times. 

I hope that my visit in Tangier declares this 
plainly and emphatically and that it will call forth 
the conviction that what Germany undertakes in 
Morocco will be negotiated exclusively with the 
sovereign Sultan. 



THE GREAT ALLY 

September 8, 1906 

On this date the Emperor and his four sons 
dedicated a monument to Frederick the Great 
on the site of his famous bivouac at Bunzelwitz. 

242 



i 9 o6] THE GREAT ALLY 

In the evening he addressed a banquet in Breslau, 
in which he took up especially the services of the 
Silesians to the crown. He particularly recalls 
the support they gave Frederick William III in 
1813, at the lowest ebb of that Kings fortunes. 
Divisions of patriotic volunteers, "free corps," 
were organized in the province, who, not being 
Prussians, could not serve in the Prussian line. 
The best known of these was that of Liitzow, to 
which the poet Theodor Korner belonged. It is 
from one of his most famous war-songs that the 
quotation in the Emperor's speech is taken. The 
manner in which he speaks of the coronation of 
his grandfather "by the will of Heaven" and with 
no mention of the Constitution, is to be found in 
several of his speeches, notably the address at 
Konigsberg (August 25, 1910). Most of these 
speeches were made in his hereditary provinces, 
Prussia, Silesia, and Brandenburg, and aroused 
considerable protest in other parts of Germany. 

My Dear President: 

With a heart deeply moved, I take the op- 
portunity to-day to speak as sovereign Duke of 
Silesia to my Silesians, for the impressions which 
have been showered upon me during the short 
time that I have been among you are of so power- 
ful and compelling a nature that words fail me to 
express them or to find the proper form for the 
thanks which I would like to communicate to my 
people of Silesia. I do not refer only to yesterday's 

243 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

demonstrations, which surpassed, if that were 
possible, the jubilations on the day of my entrance. 
And I do not mean only those on the part of the 
old soldiers in black uniforms with their military 
decorations on their breasts, who can say, "We 
have been present at the time when history was 
made/' and who dare pride themselves on having 
been fellows in arms of the great Emperor and his 
noble son, my father, whose heart, as is known to 
all of you, beat high for Silesia, but I mean to- 
day, on my journey through the green Silesian 
country to Bunzelwitz, Schweidnitz, and Rogau 
and back — everywhere I have found the same 
warmth, the same glowing, burning enthusiasm. 
It is the old Silesian loyalty which breaks forth and 
which proves the appreciation on the part of the 
people for what the house of Hohenzollern has 
done for them. This loyalty is rooted in ground 
specially consecrated by history. For who will 
deny that the province of Silesia, almost more 
than any other, stands in closest union with the 
history of our Fatherland and of our house? And, 
especially, how could any one speak of the develop- 
ment of Silesia without first thinking of the one 
powerful figure of whom the grenadiers sang from 
the Rhine to the Oder: "Fredericus Rex, our King 
and leader"? Wherever we look over the plains 
of Silesia rise the memories of him, of the in- 

244 



i 9 o6] THE GREAT ALLY 

comparable battles through which he made Prus- 
sia a world-power, and also of the splendid work 
of peace in which he sought to raise and strengthen 
the sorely oppressed country. And again in later 
times it was precisely to Silesia that it was reserved 
to send a new ray of hope to that sorely tried 
Hohenzollern King, Frederick William III, when 
he encountered the ardent enthusiasm of the first 
volunteers in Breslau, when the first raising of 
troops took place here, and when the "wild, dash- 
ing Liitzow hunters" started in their career against 
the enemy at the Zobten. And so it has been ever 
since. The sons of Silesia have fought whenever 
it was a question of coming forward and sacrificing 
their blood for the Fatherland. And so it may be 
very well said that the history of our house is in- 
dissolubly bound up with that of Silesia, one of 
her most beautiful provinces. And when we glance 
back over this great history we can characterize it 
with the phrase which my great departed grand- 
father used when, after fierce conflicts, through 
the will of Heaven the imperial crown was set 
upon his brow: "God was with us, and His be 
the honor!" And when I stop to think how the 
flags of the veterans passed me with proud bearing 
I believe that we can apply this to the present 
and thank God that He has disposed everything 
for the good and profit of this province and of our 

245 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

house; above all, for the fact that it has been 
granted us to carry out our work in peace. But 
if God was with us we ought earnestly to ask the 
question whether we were worthy of His help. 
Has every one among us also done his part by offer- 
ing up his thought, his health, and strength to carry 
on and develop the legacy which was bequeathed 
to us by the past ? If every one with his hand 
upon his heart asks himself this question sincerely, 
many a man will find it difficult to answer. And 
then, gentlemen, let us draw a lesson from the 
personality of the great King and decide where it 
was that we have failed in the work, where we 
have allowed our spirits to flag, and where dark 
thoughts and fears have bewildered our minds. 
Away with them ! And just as the great King was 
never left in the lurch by the old Ally, so our 
Fatherland and this beautiful province will always 
be near His heart. And so out of the beautiful 
circle of memories and of golden loyalty which I 
have here encountered, let us coin a new vow: 
from this time on, through offering up our strength 
of soul and body, we will devote ourselves to the 
task of urging our country forward, of working for 
our people; and every one, according to his posi- 
tion, whether high or low, will do this; and the 
various creeds will unite to check unbelief; and 
above all things, for the future, we shall keep our 

246 



i 9 o6] OPTIMISM AND LITERATURE 

vision clear and never despair of ourselves or of our 
people. The world belongs to the living, and the 
living are right. I cannot endure pessimists, and 
whoever does not take part in the work let him 
depart and, if he likes, seek out a better country. 
But I expect from my Silesians that they to-day 
will unite in the decision to be ever mindful of 
their great aims and examples, that they will 
follow their Duke, especially in his work of peace 
for his people. In this hope, I empty my glass to 
the health of the province of Silesia and of all 
faithful Silesians. 



OPTIMISM AND LITERATURE 

Munich, November 12, 1906 

One of the men of letters whom the Emperor 
has been particularly delighted to honor and in 
whom he sees one of the glories of German litera- 
ture is Doctor Ludwig Ganghofer, who is certainly 
not more than an able writer of the second rank. 
After a performance in the Hoftheater in Munich 
the Emperor expressed the desire to see him, and 
the following conversation took place which was 
reported in a confusing combination of direct and 
indirect quotation. 

The Emperor said that he had recently read the 
"Hohen Schein" and spoke at some length about 

247 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

it, going over the content and thought of the book. 
From the way in which he spoke about it one 
could see how intensely he was occupied with one 
thing in particular. 

What pleased him especially in the book was 
the optimistic tone which pervaded it, the preach- 
ing which stimulated belief in life, and the manner 
of accepting the misfortunes of existence, as well 
as the trust in the future and trust in humanity. 
"This," said the Emperor, "makes such an im- 
pression upon me because I am an optimist through 
and through and will allow nothing to prevent me 
from remaining one to the end of my days." He 
spoke of himself as a man full of his work and one 
who believed in his tasks. He said further: "I 
will go forward. I would greatly rejoice if men 
would understand me and would support me in 
my desires." In this connection he spoke of the 
difficulty every one encountered in his work on ac- 
count of distrust. He again recalled a passage 
from Ganghofer's "Schweigen im Walde" which 
had also especially appealed to him because it 
had expressed his own point of view concerning 
life. The passage runs: "He who distrusts, com- 
mits a wrong against another and harms himself. 
It is our duty to believe that every man is good so 
long as he does not give proof to the contrary." 
"On this basis," said the Emperor, "I have always 

248 



i 9 o6] OPTIMISM AND LITERATURE 

accepted every man with whom I had anything to 
do. One may sometimes meet with unpleasant ex- 
periences, but on that account he dare not give up. 
One must always go on again with new trust in 
humanity and in life." 

The Emperor then directed the conversation to 
a tablet which he had had made and which con- 
tained, besides the above-mentioned quotation, 
certain aphorisms of a like tenor from Ganghofer's 
novels. 

These quotations appealed to him so strongly 
because they expressed entirely his attitude toward 
life. With a good bit of optimism and a bright 
and trustful outlook a man will go much further, 
not only in his own personal life but in his vocation 
also, than he will if he looks upon all things with 
a pessimistic eye; and even in politics the case 
is the same. The German people certainly have a 
future, and there is one word, " Reichsver dross en- 
heit" [sullenness toward imperial destiny], which 
always offends him as often as he hears it. "What 
have we to do with sullenness ? Rather work 
and look forward. I work — yes, not unwillingly — 
and I believe that I progress." 

In connection with this word, the Emperor de- 
scribed the way in which he worked every day 
and told how the difficulty of the many duties 
and tasks which stormed in upon him often made 

249 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

him very weary. It was at such times that the 
need overcame him to get out of harness and see 
another part of the world, to become acquainted 
with other men who stimulated him again. Thus, 
his journeys to the north always invigorated him 
both mentally and physically. 

The Emperor described earnestly and vividly 
how such a journey gradually rested and refreshed 
him. In the first days there was of course an 
abundance «of work. Telegrams and letters came 
even to the boat, and he and those about him could 
not leave work for long. Then it became gradually 
more restful and solitary until eventually he found 
complete rest and could give himself up to the 
glories of nature. He then gave lively descrip- 
tions of his journeys, of the special beauties of the 
fjords, and of his impression of the midnight sun. 
He spoke especially of his pleasure at the sim- 
plicity and the cordiality of the people, who re- 
sponded to him so naturally. Everything that 
oppressed him was cast aside for a few weeks — 
and yet the pleasures which he received were be- 
grudged him by many people. He knew that he 
had always been called the "travelling Emperor," 
but he had always taken it lightly and had not 
allowed his pleasure to be spoiled by it. We dis- 
cover friends in travelling, even in our own home. 
He believed that the feeling of interdependence 

250 



i 9 o6] OPTIMISM AND LITERATURE 

was strengthened in that way and added that there 
were many Germans who did not know how beau- 
tiful their own land was and how much there was 
to be seen in it. He always rejoiced when he had 
learned to know a new portion of Germany. The 
south especially seemed to him beautiful, and he 
was very much drawn to it by the manner of life 
there. He always remembered, he said, with 
particular pleasure a journey which he had made 
many years before to Berchtesgaden and the 
beautiful days which he had been allowed to 
spend in the hills behind it with his uncle, the Duke 
of Coburg. If only travelling were not accom- 
panied by so many inconveniences ! It was always 
necessary to take along so many paraphernalia. 
Often he longed to seat himself in an automobile 
and go whizzing off for a few days, to return satis- 
fied and ready to work again. And such refresh- 
ment was necessary in a serious calling like his 
own — doubly necessary because he had to fight so 
much misunderstanding; it was a thankless situa- 
tion, because no one ever gave him credit for 
being independent. If he succeeded in anything, 
then all the world asked: "Who advised him?" 
If he was unsuccessful, then they said: "He did not 
understand it." "What in the cases of other 
princes is accepted as self-evident becomes in mine 
a matter of debate. And, nevertheless, the one 

251 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

answer is: * Because I wish the good of the German 
Empire and of the German people/ 

"Many times also I meet with pleasant experi- 
ences — and most often on these very journeys 
which are made such a reproach to me." So the 
days in Munich would remain an untroubled joy 
to him which he would never forget. The warmth 
and heartiness in the behavior of the population 
as well as the beautiful picture, gay with color, of 
the city in its artistic decorations had completely 
charmed him. 

The conversation then turned upon several 
questions of literature and politics. The Em- 
peror also related some anecdotes concerning his 
own family, and here the intimacy with which he 
spoke was particularly agreeable. He said merely, 
"my wife" and "my Buben" [boys]. In a partic- 
ularly sincere manner the Emperor spoke of our 
regents, whose energy and self-sacrifice in such 
trying days he lauded, and expressed the wish that 
the Great Prince might preserve us all for a long 
time to come. 



252 



i9o6] LABOR LEGISLATION 

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF LABOR 
LEGISLATION 

November 17, 1906 

The policy of introducing legislation in the in- 
terest of the laboring classes may be said to have 
been inaugurated by Emperor William I in 1881. 
If one of its aims was to alleviate the condition of 
this class and to promote the welfare of Germany 
generally, another and perhaps its most important 
aim in Bismarck's eyes was to stem the growth of 
the Social Democratic party and bring about a 
greater sense of solidarity within the empire. In 
this latter aim of "taking the wind out of the 
sails" of the Social Democratic party it had not 
proved successful at the time of the accession of 
William II. He began his reign with the idea of 
making still further concessions and on this point 
broke with Bismarck. When these again failed 
to conciliate the Social Democrats, he took mea- 
sures to legislate against them. He declared, as we 
have seen, on one occasion: "For me, every 
Social Democrat is synonymous with enemy of 
the nation and of the Fatherland." (May 14, 1889.) 
The fact that the party has continued to increase 
has always been a thorn in his side, and his attitude 
has been more or less contradictory with regard 
to the working classes; so that occasionally, as here, 
he seems to attempt to threaten and conciliate 
at the same time. 

Twenty-five years ago to-day the late Emperor 
and King, William the Great, made his memorable 

253 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

announcement, and I welcome the opportunity of 
calling to mind with reverent gratitude this work 
of peace through which my noble ancestor in- 
augurated new lines of legislation for the protec- 
tion of the economically weak. In obedience to 
his lofty will, with the hearty approval of the al- 
lied governments and the intelligent co-operation 
of the Reichstag, we succeeded in so advancing 
the difficult and multifarious development of the 
state's labor legislation, in the domain of sick, 
accident, and disability insurance, that those de- 
serving help in their day of need now possess a 
regularly constituted legal claim. Thanks to the 
comprehensive acts of the realm and of the em- 
ployers as well as to their own contributions, the 
laborers have hereby attained a much higher de- 
gree of security with regard to their means of 
livelihood and the support of their families. But 
the great and fruitful ideas in the imperial mes- 
sage have not only inaugurated this condition in 
our own Fatherland but have served as an epoch- 
making example far beyond her borders. Un- 
fortunately, through lasting opposition in the very 
quarter which believes that it has a right to rep- 
resent the interests of labor the fulfilment of 
the highest aims of the imperial message is being 
checked and delayed. Nevertheless, I believe 
that a recognition of what has been done and a 

254 



i 9 o6] LABOR LEGISLATION 

growing realization of the limits of the econo- 
mically possible will in ail circles of the German 
people bring about its final triumph. Then the 
hope of Emperor William that the laboring man's 
insurance would be a lasting pledge of internal 
peace for the Fatherland will have been fulfilled. 
With this in mind, it is my firm will that legisla- 
tion in the domain of social and political provisions 
should not cease, but that it should be carried out 
toward the fulfilling of the highest Christian duty 
with regard to the protection and the welfare of 
the weak and needy. But the task proposed by 
the spirit of the imperial message and its lofty 
framer cannot be carried out through merely legal 
acts and provisions. I gladly recognize to-day 
that in the German people there has never been a 
lack of men and women who willingly and joyfully 
gave up their strength in loving service for the 
good of their neighbor; and to all of those who 
devote themselves in unselfish sacrifice to the great 
social work of our time I express my imperial 
thanks. 

I commission you to bring this decree to general 
notice. 

Issued to the Imperial Chancellor, Donau- 
eschingen, November 17, 1906. 

William, I. R. 



255 



VII 
THE CRISIS OF 1907 

February 5, 1907 — October 18, 191 1 
IMPERIALISM VERSUS SOCIAL DEMOCRACY 

Berlin, February 5, 1907 

A number of scandals in army and colonial ad- 
ministration had been exposed in 1906. It will be 
remembered that for years back the Emperor had 
been insisting on union between the various relig- 
ious creeds. This was perhaps due in part to a 
spirit of toleration, but to a larger extent it was 
due to the fact that the Centre party (Catholic) 
had for a number of years been in control. The 
Reichstag of 1906 was dissolved, ostensibly over 
the government's quarrel with the Centre party 
over the comparatively paltry sum of #2,000,000 
demanded for the Southwest African colony. In 
reality the causes probably lay deeper. The late 
Reichstag had voted an insufficient sum for the 
navy and was beginning to object to the increasing 
taxes on the necessities of life. The Navy League 
was demanding a doubling of the German fleet. 
The government seemed to wish to undertake a 

256 



J 



1907] IMPERIALISM VERSUS DEMOCRACY 

more rapid policy of expansion. Mr. Barker is 
authority for the statement that leaders of the 
imperialistic agitation had gone so far as to rec- 
ommend that if the Reichstag did not vote the 
credits necessary for doubling the fleet, a coup d'etat 
should be effected by the government and that it 
should levy the taxes and govern in case of neces- 
sity against the will of the Reichstag or without 
the Reichstag. The expansionist policy was 
strongly advocated by the Colonial party and the 
Navy League and was championed by the Chan- 
cellor. As the Social Democrats opposed increases 
in taxation, they were likewise now specially under 
the ban of official disapproval. There are usually 
about forty parties in the Reichstag. The issue 
was, therefore, clearly drawn between a policy 
of imperialism and a stronger insistence on world- 
policy, on the one hand, and Social Democracy 
and the opposition on the other. The Emperor 
and the Chancellor, particularly the latter, threw 
themselves vigorously into the campaign, and in 
spite of the support of the Centre party the 
Social Democrats lost thirty-six representatives 
and their representation was reduced to forty- 
three. Although the Social Democrats have to a 
certain point supported the policy of commercial 
expansion, their defeat here may be looked upon 
as the unconditioned triumph of imperialism. 
On the night of February 5, when it was an- 
nounced that the Social Democrats had been de- 
feated, a crowd gathered about the palace, and 
when the Emperor returned at about midnight 
from the meeting of the Electrical Society, where 

257 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

he had delivered an address, he stepped out on his 
balcony and made the following speech to the 
crowd : 

Gentlemen: 

With my whole heart I thank you for the 
beautiful demonstration of homage which you 
have shown me. It arises from the feeling that 
you are proud to have done your duty toward the 
Fatherland; in the phrase of our Chancellor, you 
are able to ride, and you will ride down everything 
that opposes us if all conditions and creeds stand 
together in firm union. Do not allow this hour of 
celebration to end like a passing wave of patriotic 
enthusiasm, but stand firmly to the path on which 
you have started. I close with the words of the 
great poet Kleist in his "Prince von Homburg" 
when old Kottwitz speaks to the Great Elector 
somewhat as follows: "What do we care for the 
rules according to which the enemy fights if he is 
beaten in the fighting? We have now learned the 
art of conquering him and are filled with the de- 
sire to practise it further."* 

The exact passage runs as follows, though the lines are separated 
in the play and do not occur in this order: 

"What, I pray you, do you care for the rule 
According to which the enemy fights, if only 
He goes down before you with all his flags ? 
The rule that conquers him is the highest rule." 

Act V, Scene 5. 

258 



i9o 7 ] THE NECESSITY OF FAITH 

THE NECESSITY OF FAITH 

Munster, August 31, 1907 

The following address of a general character, 
which represents the Emperor's faith in God and 
in Germany, was delivered at a banquet in the 
Westphalian Provincial Museum. It is somewhat 
similar in its general attitude to the one delivered 
about a month later at the unveiling of the na- 
tional monument at Memel. 

I wish to express to the representatives of the 
province whom I have gathered about me to-day 
my warmest thanks for the way in which I have 
everywhere been received in this beautiful country 
of Westphalia. I would also like to repeat to you 
in the name of her Majesty, the Empress and 
Queen, how disconsolate she is that it was un- 
fortunately not possible for her to celebrate the 
Westphalian days with you and to come into per- 
sonal contact with the Westphalian people. 

The province of Westphalia offers an attractive 
picture of a state in which it has been proved pos- 
sible to reconcile historical, religious, and industrial 
differences through love and loyalty for a common 
Fatherland. The province is made up of several 
districts, of which many have for a long time be- 
longed to the crown of Prussia, while many others 
have been but recently acquired. They, however, 

259 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

vie with one another in their loyalty to our house. 
As I make no difference between old and new 
districts, so I also make no difference between the 
adherents to the Catholic and the Protestant 
creeds. Let them both stand upon the foundation 
of Christianity and they are both bound to be true 
citizens and obedient subjects. All the children of 
my country stand equally near to my heart, which 
is devoted to the Fatherland. In its industrial 
relations the province also offers a highly edify- 
ing example. It shows that the great branches 
of industry do not need to harm each other and 
that the welfare of the one works for the good of 
the others also. The farmer diligently cultivates 
his red Westphalian soil, holding fast to the tradi- 
tions which have come down to him from ages 
past; a sturdy character, with unyielding energy 
and lofty purpose, of loyal nature, a firm founda- 
tion for our state. Therefore, the protection of 
agriculture lies especially near my thoughts. 
Your citizen brings his cities ever nearer to per- 
fection; there are works for the benefit of the 
public — museums and collections, hospitals and 
churches. And deep in your mountains lie hidden 
the treasures which, mined by the diligent hands 
of the brave mountain people, give to industry the 
opportunity to develop itself — that industry, the 
pride of the nation, wonderful in its progress, 

260 



I9 o 7 ] THE NECESSITY OF FAITH 

the envy of all the world. May it be permitted 
to gather together further treasures for our na- 
tional wealth and to increase abroad the good 
reputation of the thoroughness and excellence of 
German work. 

In this connection I am mindful also of those 
laborers who, in these vast industrial undertakings, 
tend the great blast-furnaces and of those who, far 
from the daylight, accomplish their work with 
steady hands in the leads of the mines. Considera- 
tion for them, for their prosperity and their welfare 
I have taken over as a precious heritage from my 
late grandfather, and it is my wish and my will, in 
the province of such social regulations, to hold 
fast to the principles laid down in the memorable 
message of Emperor William the Great. 

The lovely picture of unity which the province 
of Westphalia presents to the observer I would 
gladly see made general over our entire Father- 
land. I believe that for such a unity of all our 
citizens, of all our conditions, only one means is 
possible, and that is religion. Not, indeed, under- 
stood in the sense of strict theological doctrine, 
but in the broader sense, practical for daily life. 
I must here go back to my own experience. In 
the long period of my reign — it is now the twen- 
tieth year since I came to the throne — I have 
had to do with many men and I have had to en- 

261 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

dure much from them; many times unconsciously, 
and unfortunately many times consciously, they 
have hurt me grievously. And if at such moments 
I have been in danger of losing my temper and 
thoughts of revenge have arisen, I have asked 
myself what were the means best fitted to temper 
anger and increase moderation. The only one 
which I have found is to say to myself: "All men 
are like you, and, although they do you harm, they 
bear a soul born in the realms of light above, to 
which we all wish to return, and through their 
souls they have a part of the Creator within them." 
Whoever thinks in this way will judge his fellow 
men mildly. If this idea of mutual forbearance 
could only be spread among the German peo- 
ple, then the first condition for a complete unity 
would be established. This can only be accom- 
plished if we tend toward one central ideal — the 
person of our Redeemer, the Man who called us 
brothers, who lived as an example for all of us — 
the most personal of all personalities. He still wan- 
ders among the people, and we are all conscious 
of Him in our hearts. In looking up to Him our 
people must find their union, and they must build 
firmly upon His words, concerning which He Him- 
self has said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, 
but My words shall not pass away." If they do 
that, then they will succeed. To such co-operation 

262 



1907] THE NECESSITY OF FAITH 

I should like to-day to invite especially the men 
of Westphalia. For, as I have before explained, 
in their province they have understood how to 
present that charming spectacle of differences 
reconciled. They will also understand me first 
and best. In this spirit let old and new districts, 
citizens, farmers, and laborers hold together and 
unitedly work together through loyalty and love 
for the Fatherland. Then the German people 
will be the rock of granite upon which our Lord 
God can build and complete his work of culture 
in the world. Then will the words of the poet be 
fulfilled when he says: "In contact with German 
life, the world will grow well again." To whoso- 
ever is ready to offer me his hand on this I shall be 
most grateful and I will accept it joyfully, no 
matter who or of what condition he may be. I 
believed that I would be most quickly understood 
by the Westphalians, and therefore I have turned 
to them. 

I now raise my glass with the wish that God's 
blessing may rest upon the red Westphalian earth 
and upon all its people, that I may be permitted 
still longer to maintain peace in order that they 
may follow their calling undisturbed. God bless 
Westphalia ! The province of Westphalia — Hur- 
rah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



263 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Nov. 

ENGLISH JOURNALISTS 

London, November 16, 1907 

In November and December, 1907, the Emperor 
paid a visit to England. On this occasion the 
degree of Doctor of Civil Law was conferred upon 
him by Oxford University. Ever since the Mo- 
rocco incident, in 1905, the feeling between the two 
countries had been somewhat strained and news- 
papers on both sides of the channel had helped to 
foment discontent. To a group of English jour- 
nalists who had visited Germany during the sum- 
mer the Emperor gave an audience and addressed 
them as follows: 

Gentlemen: 

I greatly appreciate your greeting. It gives me 
pleasure to think that your visit to Germany 
during the past summer has been so fruitful and 
that you are satisfied with the welcome accorded 
you by my countrymen. The power which you 
possess is great and extremely beneficial when it is 
used as a means for strengthening the feeling of 
friendship among the peoples. Your address 
shows that this task lies near to your hearts. I 
thank you, therefore, for your appearance here to- 
day. I rejoice to have seen you and hope that you 
will exert your influence to foster between our 
two nations the friendly feelings which are so 
necessary to the peace of Europe. We belong to 

264 



I9 o 7 ] ALSACE-LORRAINE 

the same race and have the same religion. These 
are bonds which should be strong enough to 
preserve harmony and friendship between us. 

ALSACE-LORRAINE 

Strasburg, August 30, 1908 

The Emperor delivered the following address 
at a banquet after the imperial manoeuvres in 
Alsace-Lorraine. The general situation in Alsace- 
Lorraine has been discussed in connection with 
the address to the delegates of the Landesausschuss 
on March 14, 1891. 

I bid you, gentlemen, heartily welcome and 
express to you the warmest thanks of the Empress 
and myself for the beautiful reception through 
which, here as in Metz, the people of Alsace- 
Lorraine have given so telling an expression of 
their love and loyalty. My heart also bids me 
thank you once more for the restoration of the old 
castle of Hohkonigsburg, especially the people of 
Lorraine for their patriotic attitude and the dona- 
tion of the charming Lorraine Room in the castle. 
For more than thirty-seven years you have now 
been able to follow your different callings in peace, 
and beautiful Alsace-Lorraine, keeping pace with 
the unexpected development of the German Em- 
pire, has in this time blossomed forth most joy- 

265 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

ously. As inhabitants of this border-land, you 
naturally have the greatest interest in the further 
maintenance of peace, and I rejoice to be able to 
express to you my innermost conviction that the 
peace of Europe is in no danger. It rests upon too 
firm a foundation to be easily disturbed through 
instigations and slanders aroused in certain quar- 
ters by jealousy and envy. A solid security of the 
first rank is afforded by the consciences of the 
princes and statesmen of Europe who know them- 
selves responsible to God and feel for the life and 
prosperity of the people intrusted to their charge. 
On the other hand, it is the wish and will of the 
people themselves to make themselves useful in 
the further development of the magnificent ac- 
quisitions of their progressive civilization and to 
measure their strength in peaceful competition. 
And, finally, peace will be secured and protected 
also through our forces on water and on land — 
through the German people in arms ! Proud of 
the unequalled discipline and love of honor of her 
armies, Germany is determined, without threaten- 
ing others, to carry these to still greater heights 
and so to expand as to further her own interests 
without either favoring or doing harm to any one. 
With God's help and under the protection of the 
German eagle, you can therefore follow still further 
your peaceful callings and garner the fruits of 

266 



i9o8] "DAILY TELEGRAPH" INTERVIEW 

your industry. May the blessing of God rest 
upon your work at all times ! Long life to the 
German province Alsace-Lorraine ! 

THE "DAILY TELEGRAPH" INTERVIEW 

October 28, 1908 

Perhaps the most startling incident in the Em- 
peror's reign and the most extraordinary evidence 
of what may be called his "personal diplomacy" 
policy was brought out by the publication of an 
interview in the Daily Telegraph of London. 
German sympathies before and during the Boer 
War had been strongly pro-Boer. On the third of 
January, 1896, the Emperor had telegraphed to 
President Kriiger: "I beg to express to you my 
sincere congratulations that, without help from 
foreign powers, you have succeeded with your own 
people and by your own strength in driving out 
the armed bands which attempted to disturb the 
peace of your country and in re-establishing order 
and in defending the independence of your people 
from attacks from outside." 

The German people had, therefore, assumed 
that the Emperor shared their friendliness toward 
the Boers and that the government was observing 
a policy of neutrality at least. When they learned 
that his General Staff had been called upon, and 
that he had prepared a plan of campaign against 
the Boers, a universal shout of protest was raised. 
The publication of this interview, which was de- 
signed to conciliate England, had a contrary effect 

267 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

upon Holland, and the feeling that their ruler was 
held down by no sense of responsibility was borne 
in forcibly upon the people. The matter was made 
the subject of innumerable controversies, debates 
in the Reichstag, and investigations. It was 
originally announced that the interview had been 
given to an English diplomat who had retired to 
private life. It was discovered that such was not 
the case. It had been granted to an English 
journalist who had written certain flattering 
articles about the Emperor. As for the text, it 
was admitted that it was substantially authentic; 
it had been shown to and had practically received 
the vise of the German Foreign Office. The Em- 
peror's Chancellor, however, had not seen the 
interview and under the storm of criticism of- 
fered his resignation. This the Emperor did not 
accept, and the Chancellor attempted to defend 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Emperor 
withdrew and for a time, like Achilles, pondered in 
his tent. Even the Chancellor had to admit the 
Emperor's indiscretion and to inform his sovereign 
that it would be impossible to carry out any con- 
sistent foreign policy if the Emperor did not ob- 
serve a proper reserve in his public and private 
utterances. 

Any number of projects were presented in the 
November debates of the Reichstag for changing 
the Constitution, to bring about co-operation be- 
tween the Reichstag and the Emperor in the ap- 
pointment and dismissal of Chancellors and dec- 
larations of war, and for introducing a law to 
bring about ministerial responsibility. Nothing 

268 



i9o8] "DAILY TELEGRAPH" INTERVIEW 

came of these, however, and we shall see from the 
Konigsberg speech (August 25, 1910) that the 
chastening which the Emperor had received on this 
occasion had no particularly lasting effect. Al- 
though both the interview and the telegram are 
undoubtedly authentic (the interview was pub- 
lished in official government organs in Germany, 
like the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, and by 
the Wolff Bureau), they are not included in any 
official collection of the Emperor's utterances, and 
Penzler, of course, does not print them with the 
speeches. The interview as here given is taken 
from the account of the London Times, of October 
29, 1908. 

The Emperor, who is stated to have spoken 
with "impulsive and unusual frankness," began 
by declaring that "Englishmen, in giving the rein 
to suspicions unworthy of a great nation," were 
"mad as March hares." "What more can I do," 
he asked, "than I have done? I declared with all 
the emphasis at my command, in my speech at 
Guildhall, that my heart is set upon peace and 
that it is one of my dearest wishes to live on the 
best of terms with England. 

"My task is not of the easiest. The prevailing 
sentiment among large sections of the middle and 
lower classes of my own people is not friendly to 
England. I am, therefore, so to speak, in a 
minority in my own land, but it is a minority of 

269 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

the best elements, just as it is in England with 
respect to Germany. That is another reason why 
I resent your refusal to accept my pledged word 
that I am the friend of England." 

The writer reminded his Majesty that "not 
England alone, but the whole of Europe, had 
viewed with disapproval the recent action of Ger- 
many in allowing the German consul to return 
from Tangier to Fez." His Majesty replied, 
"with a gesture of impatience," that German 
subjects in Fez were "crying for help and pro- 
tection." 

"And why not send him ? Are those who charge 
Germany with having stolen a march on the other 
powers aware that the French consular represen- 
tative had already been in Fez for several months 
when Doctor Vassel set out ?" 

The Emperor then reverted to "the subject 
uppermost in his mind — his proved friendship for 
England." It was commonly believed in England, 
he said, that during the South African War Ger- 
many had been consistently hostile to her. Ger- 
man opinion, he admitted, was hostile — "bitterly 
hostile"; but not so official Germany. In fact, 
while other European peoples had received and 
feted the Boer delegates who came to solicit Euro- 
pean intervention, he alone had refused to receive 
them at Berlin, "where the German people would 

270 



igo8] "DAILY TELEGRAPH" INTERVIEW 

have crowned them with flowers. " His Majesty 
continued: 

"Again, when the struggle was at its height, the 
German Government was invited by the govern- 
ments of France and Russia to join with them in 
calling upon England to put an end to the war. 
The moment had come, they said, not only to save 
the Boer republics, but also to humiliate England 
to the dust. What was my reply ? I said that so 
far from Germany joining in any concerted Euro- 
pean action to put pressure upon England and 
bring about her downfall, Germany would always 
keep aloof from politics that could bring her into 
complications with a sea power like England. Pos- 
terity will one day read the exact terms of the 
telegram — now in the archives of Windsor Castle 
— in which I informed the sovereign of England 
of the answer I had returned to the powers which 
then sought to compass her fall. Englishmen who 
now insult me by doubting my word should know 
what were my actions in the hour of their ad- 
versity." 

These were not the only proofs which his Maj- 
esty had given of sympathy with the British cause: 

"Just at the time of your Black Week, in the 
December of 1899, when disasters followed one 
another in rapid succession, I received a letter 
from Queen Victoria, my revered grandmother, 

271 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

written in sorrow and affliction, and bearing mani- 
fest traces of the anxieties which were preying 
upon her mind and health. I at once returned a 
sympathetic reply. Nay, I did more. I bade one 
of my officers procure for me as exact an account 
as he could obtain of the number of combatants in 
South Africa on both sides, and of the actual posi- 
tion of the opposing forces. With the figures before 
me, I worked out what I considered to be the best 
plan of campaign under the circumstances, and sub- 
mitted it to my General Staff for their criticism. 
Then I despatched it to England, and that docu- 
ment, likewise, is among the state papers at 
Windsor Castle, awaiting the serenely impartial 
verdict of history. And, as a matter of curious 
coincidence, let me add that the plan which I 
formulated ran very much on the same lines as 
that which was actually adopted by Lord Roberts 
and carried by him into successful operation." 
In conclusion, his Majesty dwelt upon the im- 
portance to Germany of a powerful fleet. Ger- 
many must be able to protect her growing com- 
merce and manifold interests "in even the most 
distant seas." "Germany," he went on, "looks 
ahead. She must be prepared for any eventuali- 
ties in the far East. Who can foresee what may 
take place in the Pacific in the days to come?" 
Looking to the accomplished rise of Japan and the 

272 



1908] COUNT ZEPPELIN 

possible national awakening of China, he urged 
that "only those powers which have great navies 
will be listened to with respect when the future of 
the Pacific comes to be solved,'' and that even 
England herself may welcome the existence of a 
German fleet "when they speak together on the 
same side in the great debates of the future." 



THE EMPEROR AND COUNT ZEPPELIN 

Manzell, November io, 1908 

With Prince Fiirstenbergthe Emperor journeyed 
from Donaueschingen to Manzell in order to be 
present at a flight of the dirigible Z-i . Count Zep- 
pelin received the Emperor and conducted him in a 
motor-boat to the dirigible hangar. Prince Fiirs- 
tenberg, Admiral von Miiller, and General von 
Plessen ascended with the count. The Emperor 
did not make the flight. After the landing of the 
airship he bestowed upon Count Zeppelin the order 
of the Black Eagle with the following words: 

In my name and in the name of our entire Ger- 
man people I heartily congratulate your Excel- 
lency on this magnificent work which you have so 
wonderfully displayed before me to-day. Our 
Fatherland can be proud to possess such a son — 
the greatest German of the twentieth century — 
who through his invention has brought us to a new 

273 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

point in the development of the human race. It is 
not too much to say that we have to-day lived 
through one of the greatest moments in the evolu- 
tion of human culture. I thank God, with all 
Germans, that he has considered our people worthy 
to name you one of us. Might it be permitted to 
us all, as it has been to you, to be able to say with 
pride in the evening of our life, that we had been 
successful in serving our dear Fatherland so fruit- 
fully ! As a token of my admiring recognition, 
which certainly all your guests gathered here share 
with the entire German people, I bestow upon you 
herewith my high Order of the Black Eagle. 
[Then followed the investing by his Majesty and 
the head marshal, Prince Fiirstenberg.] Now 
allow me, my dear count, to bestow unofficially 
upon you the accolade ! [Embraces him three 
times.] His Excellency, Count Zeppelin, the Con- 
queror of the Air — Hurrah ! 

REGATTA AT HAMBURG 

Hamburg, June 22, 1909 

The Emperor, as an enthusiastic yachtsman, 
has made it a point to be present, as we have seen, 
at nearly all of the Hamburg regattas. As he was 
this year to visit the Czar in the furtherance of his 
"personal diplomacy/' he had already been forced 
to decline their invitation; but finding it possible 

274 



igog] REGATTA AT HAMBURG 

to attend at the last moment, he made all possible 
speed to arrive at Hamburg, where his recently 
constructed yacht Meteor was to make her 
first start. The banquet, at which the Emperor 
spoke, took place on board the Hamburg-American 
Liner Deutschland. 

Your Magnificence: 

I pray you accept my most cordial and heartfelt 
thanks for this friendly greeting in the midst of 
men so well known and sympathetic to me. It 
was, indeed, a severe struggle of conscience for 
me, placed between my duty and my pleasure, to 
have to give up eventually the pleasure of being 
the guest of Hamburg. But it goes without saying 
that, as compared with the welfare of the realm, 
personal wishes must be silent, and with a heavy 
heart I decided, therefore, to send word that it 
would not be possible for me to be your guest and 
take part in the series of sports. Happily, how- 
ever, things arranged themselves favorably. That 
ship which you all know, delivered to me by 
Vulcan, my yacht Hohenzollern, has again com- 
peted with her ancient and renowned reputation. 
We hurried and flew through the Baltic, and what 
the yacht could not accomplish the railroad took 
care of; and so it was possible for me to arrive in 
time for the splendid arrangements for the Ham- 
burg racing day and, while responding to the 

275 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

wishes of M. S.,* at the same time to enter again 
that circle of men and women whom I prize so 
highly. It is my duty on the present day to ex- 
press my deepest gratitude to the city of Hamburg 
for her warm and hearty reception, which seems to 
increase from year to year, if that be possible. 
I must also express my appreciation of the hospi- 
tality extended to me in the house of your Mag- 
nificence, and also for the beautiful boat which I 
have received from the hands of a Hamburg 
master of his craft. We have, therefore, at last 
before us the proof for which I have been striving 
for years — that, just as in the building of war-ships 
and of liners, so too, in yacht construction, we 
now stand upon our own feet. It is a worthy 
vessel, built with German hands, out of German 
materials, and manned from stem to stern by 
German men. I hope that before the year is out 
she will clip the waves and show herself to ad- 
vantage in foreign ports. We follow sport here, 
and not politics; but your Magnificence has been 
good enough to touch upon points which now 
deeply move all German hearts. I still hope that 
the sense of collective responsibility will, in the 
hearts of the representatives of our people, be 
stronger than party feeling, for I assume that no 

* Max Schinckel, president of the Racing Club, who had invited 
the Emperor. 

276 



1909] REGATTA AT HAMBURG 

one among you wishes to take upon his shoulders 
the responsibility of thwarting a reform which is 
absolutely necessary to the Fatherland's internal 
and external welfare. [Bravo!] You have followed 
with interest my journey to the Finnish coast, 
where I was so warmly and hospitably received by 
his Majesty, the Emperor of All the Russias, and 
by his people. I am pleased to be in a position 
to give you, as representatives of the commercial 
and business world, the following interpretation of 
the significance of that visit, since you are partic- 
ularly interested in the peaceful shaping of the 
future. His Majesty, the Emperor, and myself 
have agreed that our meeting is to be looked upon 
as an important pledge of peace. As monarchs 
we consider ourselves responsible to God for the 
weal and woe of our people, whom we wish to ad- 
vance as far as possible along peaceful paths and 
bring to fullest fruition. All peoples need peace 
in order that under its protection they may devote 
their undisturbed attention to the great cultural 
problems of their economic and commercial de- 
velopment. For this reason we shall strive as far 
as lies in our power to work, with the help of God, 
for the furtherance and maintenance of peace. 
Naturally, in such a time, sport also can be de- 
veloped to the fullest degree., I therefore empty 
my glass to the hospitable city of Hamburg and 

277 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Sept. 

to my colleagues who are here assembled. Three 
hurrahs for the city of Hamburg and the 
Hamburg-American Line ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
Hurrah ! 

REVIEW OF THE FOURTEENTH ARMY 
CORPS 

Karlsruhe, September ii, 1909 

The following address was delivered at Karls- 
ruhe by the Emperor after his return from Austria 
in 1909. 

I extend to you my heartiest thanks for the 
friendly words of welcome which in the name of the 
citizens of Karlsruhe you have offered me. I have 
so often stopped here at Karlsruhe that I am no 
longer a stranger among you. With you I have 
lived through joyful and sorrowful days. On the 
present day, as you have said, I am here to inspect 
this portion of our army. We Germans are a 
people who rejoice in weapons and who lightly 
and joyfully wear our uniforms, because we know 
that it preserves the peace for us in which alone 
our work can prosper. The review from which I 
have just returned showed me the soldierly sons of 
Baden, who, commanded by their distinguished 
sovereign, have given me the deepest satisfaction. 
As long as there are wars our army constitutes the 
"rocher de bronze" upon which peace is based. 

278 



1909] EMPEROR BY DIVINE RIGHT 

Our army serves to protect it and to maintain the 
position in the world which is rightfully ours. 
For this purpose also such strenuous days of effort 
are devoted to its development. I am convinced 
that, if need arises, with the help of God and under 
His protection, it will give a fitting account of it- 
self. I ask you, Herr Burgomaster, to be the in- 
terpreter of my thanks and of those of her Majesty, 
the Empress, for the splendid and hearty reception 
which the citizens of Karlsruhe have offered us. 



EMPEROR BY DIVINE RIGHT 

KONIGSBERG, AUGUST 25, I9IO 

It was at Konigsberg that the coronation of the 
Emperor's grandfather took place, or rather, it was 
here that William I crowned himself King of 
Prussia. This express disclaimer of any responsi- 
bility to the people may be found in several 
speeches, but nowhere was the ex me mea nata 
corona attitude more forcibly expressed than on 
this occasion. Ordinarily there had been no cor- 
onations in Prussia, as they were considered a 
useless expense. As the predecessor of Emperor 
William I had granted the people a constitution, 
William I was evidently going to insist upon his 
prerogative and did so by taking the crown unto 
himself and making his famous statement. His 
conduct and that of his predecessors has been 
discussed in chapter I. 

279 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

My heart bids me express to the men of this 
province the pleasure which her Majesty and I 
feel on finding ourselves again within the borders 
of this beautiful country and on having been re- 
ceived with such enthusiasm by the citizens of 
our loyal city and of the province. The sentiment 
that finds expression now in Konigsberg proves 
that it is an entirely unique bond which joins the 
city and the province to our house. And, in fact, 
if one looks back upon the history of the country 
and of the house it becomes evident that great 
and important portions are common to both. Here 
it was that the Great Elector, by his own right, 
created himself the sovereign Duke in Prussia; 
here his son set the King's crown upon his head; 
and the sovereign house of Brandenburg thus 
became one of the European powers. Frederick 
William I established here his authority as 
"rocker de bronze"; under Frederick the Great, 
the province shared in the joys and sorrows of his 
reign. Then came the difficult time of trial. The 
great soldier Emperor of the French resided here, 
and after the power of Prussia had been shattered 
he let both the city and the country feel his merci- 
less hand. Here, however, the thoughts of raising 
up and freeing the Fatherland were first put into 
action. After Tauroggen,* when the old, unyield- 

* In 1812 Prussia was ostensibly an ally of France. It was 
due to General York, the commander of the Prussian Auxiliaries, 

280 



i 9 io] EMPEROR BY DIVINE RIGHT 

ing York stirred up the people with his flaming 
speeches, came the courageous decision of the 
Prussian Diet to begin the work of liberation. 
And here my grandfather, again, by his own right, 
set the Prussian crown upon his head, once more 
distinctly emphasizing the fact that it was ac- 
corded him by the will of God alone and not by 
parliament or by any assemblage of the people 
or by popular vote, and that he thus looked upon 
himself as the chosen instrument of Heaven and as 
such performed his duties as regent and sovereign. 
And adorned with this crown, forty years ago, he 
rode forth to battle to win the Emperor's crown 
also. Truly it was a long way to the time of the 
famous telegram of the Emperor to my late grand- 
mother: "What a change through the providence 
of God!" This picture would, however, be in- 
complete if I did not mention one figure which 
especially in that year had occupied and gripped 
anew the Prussians and, I may truly say, the 



rather than to the Emperor's somewhat pusillanimous ancestor, 
King Frederick William, that Prussia was liberated from the rule 
of Napoleon. York commanded the Prussian troops who were to 
serve as auxiliaries to Napoleon. On December 30, 18 12, he, on 
his own authority, concluded the convention of Tauroggen with the 
Russians by which he broke with the French and declared his corps 
neutral. The vacillating Prussian King, in spite of his country's 
humiliation, was too solicitous about maintaining his throne to dare 
venture upon any really decisive action. It was popular pressure 
far more than the King's (or even the Queen's) initiative which 
brought about the national uprising against foreign domination. 

281 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

whole German people. It is not possible to think 
of the time of our collapse and our revival, without 
remembering the figure of Queen Louise. The 
people of the city of Konigsberg and the province 
of East Prussia likewise saw this angel in human 
form wandering among them and they were in- 
fluenced by her and helped her to bear her 
grievous ills. The noble Queen has been de- 
scribed by many as going about among her sub- 
jects, and our people hold her in grateful remem- 
brance. But I think that one thing cannot be 
sufficiently emphasized, and that is that in the 
general shattering of our Fatherland, when even 
the statesmen and leaders of the army gave up 
everything as lost, the Queen was the only one who 
never for one moment doubted for the future of 
the Fatherland. Through her example, through 
her letters, through her conversation, and through 
the bringing up of her children she showed the 
people the way in which to find themselves again. 
She showed them the way back to religion and 
with it to a recognition of and a confidence in 
themselves. She encouraged our people in the 
thought of rallying about the King again and of 
winning back our freedom. And after she — a 
noble martyr — had faded away and enthusiasm 
flamed forth in the land again and old and young 
seized their weapons to drive the intruder from 

282 



i 9 io] EMPEROR BY DIVINE RIGHT 

the country, then, in spirit, she marched before 
the colors and inspired the warriors with courage 
that the great work could be accomplished. What 
does the noble figure of Queen Louise teach us ? 
It teaches us that, as she once imbued her sons 
with the one thought of restoring the country's 
honor and of defending the Fatherland, so we men 
should cultivate all warlike virtues. As in the 
time of the liberation young and old rallied to the 
standard and gave everything they had — when 
even women and girls did not spare their hair — 
so we must ever be prepared and keep our equip- 
ment intact, in view of the fact that the neighbor- 
ing powers have made such astounding progress. 
For only upon our preparedness does our peace 
rest. And what shall our wives learn from the 
Queen ? They will learn that the chief duty of 
German women lies not in the province of meetings 
and club life, not in reaching out after imaginary 
rights so that they may do as men do, but in the 
quiet work in the house and in the family. They 
are to educate the younger generation, especially 
in obedience and in respect toward their elders. 
They are to make clear to their children and to 
their children's children that it is not a question 
to-day of living their own life at the expense of 
others or of achieving their own aims at the ex- 
pense of the Fatherland, but that they must 

283 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

singly and solely keep the Fatherland before their 
eyes and singly and solely devote all their powers 
and their thoughts to the good of the Fatherland. 
That is the lesson which has been bequeathed to us 
by this noble figure whom the Fatherland and the 
citizens of this city have so beautifully described 
on her simple monument as "the good genius of 
the Prussian people." I cherish the hope that all 
of the people of East Prussia who have gathered 
here will understand me and that, as they return 
again to their work and their occupation, they will 
think of these things. We must co-operate for the 
good of the Fatherland, no matter who and where 
we are. And for me, too, the conduct of this van- 
ished Queen will be an example, as it was for my 
grandfather. Looking upon myself as the in- 
strument of the Lord, without regard for daily 
opinions and intentions, I go my way, which is 
devoted solely and alone to the welfare and peace- 
ful development of the Fatherland. But in this 
work I need the co-operation of every one in the 
country and to this co-operation I would like to 
invite you also. I empty my glass in the hope 
that this attitude may ever prevail in the province 
of East Prussia and that it may lend me its as- 
sistance in my labors. Long live the province of 
East Prussia ! — Long may she prosper ! 



284 



i 9 iol THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN 

THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
BERLIN 

Berlin, October II, 1910 

The active interest which the Emperor has al- 
ways taken in higher education in Germany is 
evident in the following address. If he has given 
it a powerful organization he has taken from it by 
unconscious processes a large measure of its earlier 
freedom. The professorial caste has always been 
highly influential. During the Emperor's reign it 
has been pressed into his service. Its present 
system of organization and its connection with 
the government puts the Emperor, or at least 
the minister appointed by him, in a position to 
distribute rewards. It is said that there are prac- 
tically no Social Democrats teaching in higher 
institutions of learning. 

In the early years of its foundation the univer- 
sity of Berlin rendered immense services to the 
patriotic cause, especially through the work of 
Fichte and Schleiermacher. 

To my loyal Frederick-William University, I 
offer greeting and congratulations on this its 
hundredth anniversary ! 

From the day of its founding its fortunes have 
been intimately bound up with those of the Prus- 
sian-German Fatherland. When my ancestor 
King Frederick William III called it into ex- 

285 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

istence a hundred years ago, he did so in order to 
compensate the state with spiritual powers for 
what she had lost in physical power. Thus the 
University of Berlin was born out of the same 
creative genius from which sprung the regenera- 
tion of Prussia. And this spirit, which raised up 
Prussian Germany and which lived in Fichte, 
Schleiermacher, Savigny, and their friends, made 
the university even in a few years the centre of 
the spiritual and intellectual life of the Father- 
land. 

Truly, the University of Berlin was still far 
from being a universitas litterarum in the sense of 
William von Humboldt, but it has come ever 
nearer and nearer to this ideal. A stronghold of 
wisdom, she has won, far beyond the boundaries 
of Prussia and Germany, an international signif- 
icance. Through the exchange of teachers and 
students these relations are visible externally. 
Through the activity which it shares in common 
with the rest of the universities of the country it 
now forms the "general institute of learning" 
which was intended at its founding. 

In the meantime Humboldt's plan, which com- 
prised besides the university the totality of in- 
tellectual institutions, has not yet come to com- 
plete realization, and these hours of consecration 
seem to me especially fitted for preparing the way 

286 



i 9 io] THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN 

for the completion of what appeared to him as 
the goal. 

His great educational plan demanded, besides 
the academies of learning and the university, in- 
dependent institutes for research as an integral 
part of the general educational organization. The 
founding of such institutions has not kept pace in 
Prussia with the development of the universities, 
and this defect, especially in our natural-science 
equipment, is becoming more and more noticeable 
as a result of the powerful forging ahead of the 
sciences. We need institutions which reach out 
beyond the limits of the universities, institutions 
untrammelled by aims of instruction, yet in close 
touch with the academy and the university, which 
shall serve entirely for research. 

To call such research institutes into being as 
soon as possible seems to me a sacred duty of the 
present, and I hold it as my task, as father of my 
country, to bespeak the general interest for this 
undertaking. This high aim requires great ex- 
pense and can be accomplished only if all circles 
interested in the progress of the sciences and in the 
welfare of the Fatherland are ready to co-operate 
in this significant task and to make sacrifices for 
it. I should like, therefore, to-day to lay upon the 
conscience and place before the eyes of every one 
the new aim with the impressive warning: " Tua 

287 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

res agitur." I hope and firmly trust that this work 
will succeed; indeed, although the plans have 
been disclosed only to a limited circle, from 
various parts of the country I have already re- 
ceived enthusiastic expressions of support and 
very considerable means; between nine and ten 
million [marks] have been placed at my disposal. 
I feel the need of expressing here in this place my 
warmest thanks to these unselfish donors. 

But to secure lasting support for this under- 
taking, it is my wish, under my protection and my 
name, to found a society which shall set for itself 
the task of erecting and maintaining institutions 
for research. To this society I will gladly turn 
over the money given me for that purpose. To 
see to it that the institutions so founded shall not 
lack help from the state will be the care of my 
reign.* 

So may to-day be not only an occasion of 
jubilation for the University of Berlin, but may it 
also signify a further step in the development of 
German spiritual life! 

And still one wish more I give to the university 



*0n the Emperor's initiative, the Emperor William Society for the 
furthering of the sciences was founded. It has already called into 
being two scientific institutes, the Emperor William Institute for 
Chemistry and the Emperor William Institute for Physical Chemistry 
and Electrical Chemistry. They were dedicated by the Emperor, 
October 23, 191 2. 

288 



i 9 io] THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN 

on its way into a new century. May she, in loyal 
remembrance of the time of her founding, preserve 
her Prussian-German character ! Learning is, in- 
deed, the common property of the whole cultural 
world, and her acquisitions to-day halt at no 
boundaries. And yet — as every nation must 
preserve its own manner of life if it would em- 
phasize its independent existence and its value for 
the whole — may the alma mater Berolinensis re- 
main forever conscious that she is a German uni- 
versity. As formerly, so may she be for all time 
the seat of German manners and of German art ! 
And may every one who has the honor to investi- 
gate, to teach, and to study within her walls de- 
vote himself to his task, filled with the sense for 
truth and for thoroughness with the earnestness 
and the love for all work which Goethe prized as 
the ornament of our people. 

May the university further exercise her splendid 
privilege of fostering true knowledge, which, as 
Humboldt has so well said, comes from man's 
inner being to be planted again in his inner being, 
which creates and reshapes character. Let her 
do this with that noble freedom which sets laws 
unto itself and with that sense of exaltation which 
comes from being the administrator of a trea- 
sure which belongs to the whole of humanity. 
"Communis hominum thesaurus situs est in magnis 

289 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

veritatibus"* But all truth is God's, and His 
spirit rests upon every work which is grounded in 
and strives toward the truth. May this spirit of 
truth live also in you students; may it be found 
in all the workings of my dear institution of learn- 
ing! Then will her age be like her youth; she shall 
remain a city upon the hill, to which the peoples 
make pilgrimage, and an ornament and treasure 
of the Fatherland. 

THE EMPEROR IN BRUSSELS 

October 27, 1910 

The Emperor and Empress, accompanied by the 
Princess Victoria Luise, came to Brussels in order 
to repay the visit which the King and Queen of 
Belgium had made to Potsdam in May, 1910. At 
the time of the visit of King Albert to Berlin the 
Emperor did not take part in the festivities, as he 
was suffering from a wound in the hand. The 
honors were done by the Crown Prince. The Em- 
peror's speech at the banquet at the Royal Palace 
in Brussels calls for no comment. 

The sincere words of friendship which your 
Majesty, in the name of her Majesty, the Queen, 
has just addressed to us, the Empress, my daugh- 
ter, and me, as they sprang from warm hearts are 

*This phrase is taken from Leibnitz's dedication of the Miscel- 
lanea Berolinensia to King Frederick I. 

290 



i9io] THE EMPEROR IN BRUSSELS 

welcomed by warm hearts. We remember with 
greatest pleasure the visit which your Majesties 
made to us last spring at Potsdam, and it was a 
welcome duty of gratitude to return it as soon as 
possible. The brilliant reception prepared for us 
by your Majesties and the Belgian people in this 
splendid capital has stirred us to the depths and 
inspires us to heartier thanks in that we see in it 
an expression of the close bond which unites not 
only our families but our peoples. It is with 
friendliest sympathy that I and all Germany follow 
the astounding results which have accrued to the 
untiring energy of the Belgian people in all depart- 
ments of trade and industry, the crowning display 
of which we have seen in the brilliantly successful 
World Exposition of this year. Belgian commerce 
embraces the whole circle of the earth, and it is in 
the peaceful work of culture that Germans and 
Belgians everywhere meet. Their cultivation of 
the more spiritual arts fills us with similar wonder 
when we behold to what a conspicuous place the 
poets and artists of Belgium have attained. May 
the trustful and friendly feelings, to which in recent 
times the relations of our governments bore such 
pleasing evidence, be ever more closely preserved ! 
From your Majesty's reign may happiness and 
blessing stream forth upon your house and upon 
your people! It is with this wish, which comes 

291 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

from the very depths of my heart, that I propose 
long life to your Majesties, the King and Queen 
of the Belgians ! 



ALCOHOL AND THE SCHOOLS 

Cassel, August 19, 191 1 

The Emperor had been a student at the Fried- 
richs Gymnasium in Cassel, and in 1875 his parents 
had presented a flag to the school, which had now 
to be replaced. In turning over the new flag to 
the first man in the upper class, the Emperor took 
occasion to give the students certain advice, 
particularly with regard to the use of alcoholic 
beverages. His attitude here marks a decided in- 
novation in Germany, and if his address is com- 
pared with the one delivered at Bonn (April 24, 
1901), it will be seen how keenly aware he is of 
the changing tendencies of the times. 

I have decided to have a new flag woven for the 
upper class instead of the one which my parents 
bestowed when I was a student and which has 
fallen a victim to time. The high school has asked 
to have the old one back again; I will have it 
mended so that it may be hung. I wish you to 
remember, through it, that from your walls and 
your studies a German Emperor has gone forth. 

You have been busy with the studies of antiq- 
uity. Do not lay too much stress upon the in- 

292 



i 9 i i] ALCOHOL AND THE SCHOOLS 

cidents of their political life; for these relations 
have so changed that they cannot be applied to 
the present. You may well rejoice in many of 
the great figures and characters of antiquity, but 
Greek culture has one special trait which no other 
nation has shown. The harmony which our own 
time so sadly lacks, the Greek people showed in art, 
in life, in their motions, in their dress, yes, even in 
their systems of philosophy, and in the handling 
of their problems. I especially advise you to read 
what Chamberlain so trenchantly says on this 
point in the Introduction to his " Foundations of 
the Nineteenth Century/' 

And then, above all, strive to know the history 
of your Fatherland. Learn to know the misery 
of our people in the later years of the Middle Ages, 
in the struggles between church and state and be- 
tween the princes, in the strife of creeds during the 
Thirty Years' War, when our people were trodden 
down and brought into the service of foreign peo- 
ples and dynasties with whom its interests had 
nothing in common, until the final great downfall in 
the time of Napoleon. The year 1 870 first brought 
us a united German state again. And if you enter 
upon a political career, keep your eye upon the 
field as a whole, and do not be disturbed by 
parties. For these shove their interests before 
those of the Fatherland and often draw a curtain 

293 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

between you and it. And if your political efforts 
threaten to bewilder you, I advise you to withdraw 
from them for a time — travel or go on a walking 
tour — and let Nature have her way. Then when 
you return you will have a clearer vision of the 
real relations. If at any time the waves overwhelm 
you, if the many phenomena of modern art and 
literature bewilder and depress you, you can al- 
ways turn to these ideals of antiquity as a means 
of recovering your balance. 

You are now ready to enter the university. 
Therefore I would like to give you one more coun- 
sel, which you must not take lightly, for it is 
to me a very serious matter. Alcohol is a great 
danger to our people, which, believe me, gives me 
great anxiety. I have led the government now dur- 
ing twenty-three years, and through the reports 
which pass through my hands I know how many 
crimes have been committed through alcohol. 
Direct your gaze for a moment to a neighboring 
land. The Americans are far ahead of us in this. 
At their universities there they do great things, 
as you may convince yourselves, since so many 
students come to us from there. There, at the 
reunions and at the great academic gatherings — 
for instance, at the inauguration of a president — 
no wine is seen on the whole table; and they get 
along very well without it. If you enter the uni- 

294 



i 9 h] INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 

versity, steel your body through sport and through 
fencing — a thing I would blame in no one — or 
through rowing; but do not seek to make a record 
for yourself by seeing who can gulp down the 
greatest number of intoxicating drinks. Those 
are customs which come to us from another time. 
If you will take this attitude in the corps and 
societies, I shall be grateful to you. We have other 
tasks now than they had in former years and must 
strengthen our knowledge of national economy 
and finances. For it is worth Germany's while to 
protect her position in the world, especially in the 
world market. Therefore we must all hold fast 
together. 

I herewith turn the flag over to you. The 
primus omnium, so I understand, will carry it and 
will consider it an honor that he is the first one to 
do so. 

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 

Hamburg, August 27, 19 11 

After a religious service for the army, the Em- 
peror and Empress visited the race-course at 
Grossborstel. The relations between Germany and 
England were becoming strained. At the time 
of the uprising in Morocco on the twenty-first 
of May, 191 1, the French general Moinier took 
measures, so he said, to protect Europeans in 
Morocco and later besieged certain native cities. 

29s 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

Germany, pursuing her world-policy, immediately 
sent the gunboat Panther and later the cruiser 
Berlin to the harbor of Agadir, and assumed a 
threatening attitude, as she had done at Tangier 
and as Admiral Diedrichs had done at Manila. 
When the English made it plain that they would 
support France, in accordance with the entente 
reached in 1904, with regard to Morocco and 
Egypt, feeling between the two nations became 
tense and has remained so. The Emperor here, 
while insisting upon the place in the sun, is at the 
same time insisting on friendly competition. (See 
the discussion of the speech of March 31, 1905.) 

Your Magnificence: 

As often as her Majesty and I have the happy 
opportunity of coming to Hamburg, it becomes our 
duty to express our gratitude for the joyful recep- 
tion and warm, heartfelt greeting which is ac- 
corded us by all classes of the Hamburg citizens. 
We have felt this again to-day and are constrained 
to express anew our thanks for the welcome on the 
part of the city. It is an index of how close the 
relations have become between the citizens of 
Hamburg and our house. As the highest com- 
mander of my army, I would at the same time like 
to express the joy I take in the fact that the Han- 
seatic cities are now about to express again their 
lively interest and their love and fondness for the 
regiments which bear their names. To me it is a 

296 



i 9 i i] INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 

proof that the relationship between the garrisons 
and their cities is a deep and a close one, and that 
they are proud to give some outward recognition 
for the service which their sons have rendered in 
the past and for the zeal which they showed in 
their work of peace. 

When, yesterday, the city of Hamburg enthu- 
siastically greeted a portion of that army which 
has so long maintained peace, she did a very 
proper thing, for she understands that under the 
protection of peace she can devote herself to her 
labors. She is a world city and is situated on one 
of the greatest rivers of our Fatherland, and the 
breath of the sea and the wave beat of the tides 
come to her wharves. Just as for the human body, 
it is necessary for a nation to breathe in order 
to live. The breath of the body politic gives 
it life and strength. This breath is commerce. 
Long ago the far-sighted Great Elector coined the 
phrase: " Trade and navigation are the two main 
pillars of my state." 

In the twenty-three years since I mounted the 
throne it has been a pleasure to me to follow the 
progress which the Hanseatic cities and especially 
Hamburg have achieved in their restless advance. 
If I do everything that I can on my side to help 
the Hanseatic cities, it is a duty that I gladly 
discharge. 

297 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

But we need not wonder that the great increase 
of trade in our newly united Fatherland has dis- 
quieted many people in the world. I, nevertheless, 
believe that in the domain of commerce com- 
petition is healthful; it is necessary in order to 
spur on states and nations to new achievement. 
Indeed, it is the same thing with sports, as we have 
seen to-day at the magnificent race-course, where 
before the eyes of thousands of Hamburg's men 
and so many of her beautiful women the officers 
of my army rode in competition. There we see one 
rider who in thought has already won first prize, 
and on the right and on the left the next two work 
up to him and it becomes an earnest contest be- 
tween the three. Then he who up to this point 
was at the head reaches for his whip, not in 
order to strike his two rival riders but his own 
horse, and he gives him the spur. In the same 
way competition between nations can be fought 
out in peace. 

The powerfully developing German fleet of war, 
which is distinguished by its cult of manliness and 
discipline, has in the last decades been created by 
the German people as a protection to trade and 
navigation. It represents the will of the German 
people to count for something upon the seas. This 
growing young fleet is particularly proud of the 
interest of Hamburg's citizens. If, then, I have 

298 



i 9 i i] IMPERIAL GLORIES 

correctly interpreted this expression of your en- 
thusiasm, I believe that I dare assume that it is 
your purpose to further strengthen our fleet in 
order that we may be certain that no one will dare 
challenge the "place in the sun" which should be 
rightfully ours. I, therefore, raise my glass to the 
health of the Hanseatic cities, and especially to 
Hamburg, the greatest of them all ! The gentle- 
men know what I think about Hamburg and how 
I feel myself bound to her. And at the risk of re- 
peating myself I say it again : the citizens of Ham- 
burg and I understand each other ! The city of 
Hamburg — Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



IMPERIAL GLORIES 

Aix, October 18, 191 i 

The special fondness of the Emperor for Aix is 
indicated in the address of June 19, 1902. With 
his assistance the cathedral had been restored in 
this year, and a marble tablet had been set up 
in his honor. If the Emperor's father was con- 
cerned about restoring the splendor of the crown, 
it is also true that he was by nature one of the 
most liberal of the Hohenzollerns. The book 
which Frederick I gave his son to read was in all 
probability the magnificent volume, "Die Reichs- 
kleinodien" by Doctor Fr. Bock, published in 
Vienna in 1864. 

299 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

My Dear Burgomaster: 

You have strengthened with your friendly words 
of greeting the deep impression which I received 
to-day as I found myself within your walls. I 
thank you, the city magistrates and the citizens, 
most heartily for this memorable day. I do not 
see how the eightieth birthday of my father, who 
was all too soon taken from us, could have been 
celebrated more beautifully than through the 
solemn unveiling of the magnificent equestrian 
statue dedicated to his memory, which we owe to 
the unselfish reverence of the citizens of Aix for 
the favorite of the German people. I congratu- 
late the city on this new monument, which will 
serve as a bond and a joy for generations yet un- 
born. It will indicate that, in spite of all the fric- 
tions and political, social, and religious differences 
of our time, a firm bond of love and trust, never- 
theless, surrounds and binds together the prince 
and the people. 

If ever a prince deserved a monument here in 
Aix it was my late father. From my childhood I 
had occasion to observe with what interest he 
devoted himself to the study of the German Em- 
perors and of their traditions and how deeply he 
was impressed by the power of their position and 
the splendor of the old German imperial crown. 
When as a lad I played in his room and had earned 

300 



i 9 u] IMPERIAL GLORIES 

some reward through my good behavior, he al- 
lowed me to turn the leaves of a magnificent 
volume in which were represented the jewels, 
insignia, robes, and weapons of the Emperors, and 
finally, in brilliant colors, the crown itself. How 
his eyes glistened when he told stories of the coro- 
nations at Aix with their ceremonies and banquets, 
of Charlemagne, of Barbarossa, and their great- 
ness ! He always closed by saying: "That must 
all come again, the power of the empire must rise, 
and the glitter of the Emperor's crown must shine 
forth once more. Barbarossa must be freed from 
the tower again !" And it was granted him by 
Providence to play a large part in the accomplish- 
ment of this great work. On the bloody field of 
battle he helped his honored father to win the 
Emperor's crown and the unity of the German 
people. 

Educated by my father for the high position 
which was one day to be mine, I grew up in wonder 
and in reverence for the Emperor's crown, which, 
with its burden and its responsibility, I have taken 
over from him. It is a sacred jewel from which, 
under God's protection, many blessings have gone 
forth upon the Fatherland and which has proved 
itself a shield for the national honor. All Ger- 
mans can look up to it with trust, and it will show 
itself the stronger the more it is surrounded and 

301 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct., 191 i 

supported by loyal affection and earnest co- 
operation. 

As my forefathers bestowed their special favor 
upon Aix, so with me it has always been a pleasure 
to be able to show her my interest and good wishes, 
within whose walls here, in the extreme western 
part of the empire, German culture and German 
manners have found a place fortified by a famous 
past and traditions many hundred years old. May 
the city in the future also, with her salutary 
springs and beautiful wooded hills, with her mani- 
fold industries and her far-reaching commerce, 
grow, flourish, and prosper! May the citizens, 
through loyalty to God, King, and Fatherland, 
pursue their work and enjoy the fruits of their in- 
dustry in peace! The old imperial city and her 
loyal citizens — Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



302 



VIII 
LAST MONTHS OF PEACE 

February 7, 1912— June 23, 1914 
OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

Berlin, February 7, 1912 

As a result of the Morocco crisis and the increas- 
ing imminence of international difficulties, the war 
footing of the German army had been increased 
to 3,860,000 men. The navy had been steadily ex- 
tended, and projects for further increases in both 
army and navy were to be introduced at this 
session of the Reichstag and to be granted. The 
question of taxation was becoming more and more 
serious. In view of the project for increased 
armament and higher taxation, Chancellor von 
Bethmann-Hollweg had earnestly urged all parties 
to unite against the Social Democrats. His efforts 
were not nearly so successful as had been those of 
Biilow in 1907. One hundred and ten Social 
Democrats were returned. It is perhaps significant 
that at this session the Reichstag voted a bill 
creating a German oil company, which was to 
conduct its operations under the supervision of the 
government and thus render Germany more in- 
dependent of foreign countries in this regard. 

303 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

Honored Sirs: 

In the name of the affiliated governments, I bid 
the newly elected Reichstag welcome ! 

To maintain the solid framework of the empire 
and the order of the state undisturbed, to increase 
the welfare of the people in all classes and con- 
ditions, to protect and raise the strength and 
credit of the nation is the aim of all my efforts. 
In this I find myself in accord with my honored 
colleagues, and I cherish the conviction that 
you, as the chosen representatives of the na- 
tion, will exert your best powers in this common 
work. 

For a generation past questions of social reg- 
ulation have occupied a prominent place in the 
legislation of the realm. Even at the last session 
of the previous Reichstag the benefits of insurance 
were extended to a large portion of the population. 
The same social spirit with which the work has 
previously gone forward must prevail even further. 
For development does not stand still. 

The finances of the realm have attained a firm 
position. On the basis of definitely calculated 
contributions from the states, we have succeeded 
in establishing a balance in the imperial economy, 
and by the help of the surplus which resulted we 
have relieved the excess of the budget. By hold- 
ing fast to the rigorous policies in vogue up to the 

304 



i 9 i2] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

present, the empire will within a short time arrive 
at a complete restoration of its finances. 

It fills me with satisfaction when I think to 
what a point the free spirit of enterprise has at- 
tained in industry and crafts, in trade, and in 
commerce, and how, through the increasing per- 
fection of its technic, agriculture has gradually 
blossomed forth again. In view of this gratifying 
progress, the affiliated governments will hence- 
forth not neglect to strengthen the foundation of 
our customs policy by means of alterations and 
the addition of new trading regulations. 

A project which will be shortly put before you is 
to serve for the strengthening of the German in- 
terests in foreign countries. It regulates depen- 
dence upon the empire and the state in such a way 
that it will be easier for natives of Germany in 
foreign parts to remain citizens of the empire, 
or, in case they have lost their imperial rights, to 
recover them again.* 

The success of our work of peace at home and 

* This project resulted in a law promulgated by the Emperor July 
22, 191 3. It has been made the subject of considerable hostile com- 
ment in foreign countries, as it would seem under certain conditions, 
not definitely fixed, to permit a German subject to divide his allegiance. 

Article 17 of this law asserts that (German) citizenship is lost 
through the acquiring of citizenship in a foreign country. ^ It, how- 
ever, refers to Article 25, which makes the following conditions: _ 

Art. 25, Sec. 2. Citizenship [German] shall not be lost by him 
who, before acquiring citizenship in a foreign country, shall, on his 
request, have received the written permission to retain [German] 

305 



•THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Feb. 

overseas depends upon the empire's remaining 
powerful enough to stand for and protect its na- 
tional honor, its possessions, and its rightful in- 
terests in the world at all times. On this account 
it is my continual duty and care to maintain and 
strengthen by land and by sea the armies of the 
German people, which does not lack young men 
capable of bearing arms. Bills to this end are in 
preparation and will be laid before you together 
with proposals which will provide for the increased 
expenditure. If, Honored Sirs, you help to carry 
out this great project you will be doing the 
Fatherland a great service. 

We have given a new proof of our willingness 
to settle international points of dispute amicably 
wherever this can be done in accordance with the 
dignity and the interests of Germany, through 
the conclusion of our agreements with France. 
In addition to strengthening our alliances with the 
Austro-Hungarian monarchy arid the kingdom of 
Italy, my policy is directed toward the mainte- 

citizenship from the proper authority in his home state. The Ger- 
man consul is to be consulted before granting this permission. 

Art. 25, Sec. 3. The Imperial Chancellor, on a vote of the Bun- 
desrat, can decree that the permission specified in Section 2, shall 
not be granted to persons who wish to acquire citizenship in a 
specified foreign state. 

On the face of it, this decree would seem to be open to the inter- 
pretation that it lies within the power of the German Bundesrat to 
allow a man who has ostensibly acquired citizenship in a foreign 
country to be counted as a German citizen. 

306 



i 9 i2] BRANDENBURG ONCE AGAIN 

nance of friendly relationships with all powers on 
the basis of mutual respect and good-will. 

I trust the healthy power of the German people, 
and, counting upon the support of a gracious God, 
I look out hopefully over the struggles of the day 
toward the future of the empire. Therefore, at 
the beginning of a new legislative session, I offer 
you, Honored Sirs, my greeting in the hope that 
your activities will be exerted for the benefit of 
the people and the country. 

BRANDENBURG ONCE AGAIN 

May 30, 1912 

The indications of particular good-will which 
the Emperor had always exhibited for the Bran- 
denburgers and the marks of special favor which 
he had seemed to accord to them have occasionally 
aroused a certain suspicion, not to say ill will, in 
the minds of some of his South German subjects. 
In his hereditary provinces, Brandenburg and 
Prussia, it will be noticed that the Emperor had 
always expressed himself most freely with regard 
to his personal pretensions that he ruled by divine 
right alone. The two speeches which have been 
most criticised in this respect are the ones de- 
livered at Breslau (February 3, 1899) and Konigs- 
berg (August 25, 1910). They served, unfortu- 
nately, to accentuate the differences which existed 
between the subjects in various parts of the empire 
and to remind them that they had a Prussian Em- 

307 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

peror. If certain portions of his audiences here 
acquiesced in these pretensions of their hereditary 
ruler and were somewhat proud of the particular 
confidence he vouchsafed to them, critics, and 
even conservative critics, referred to these ideas 
of " Gottesgnadentum" grace-of-Godism, with 
touches of what was at least irony. After the 
unfortunate crisis following the Daily Telegraph 
interview Chancellor von Bulow had felt con- 
strained to request the Emperor "henceforward to 
observe, even in private interviews, that reserve 
which is indispensable both to the interests of a 
consistent policy and to the authority of the 
crown." As we have seen, in spite of the Em- 
peror's seeming acceptance of this necessity, it had 
not modified to any particular extent the tenor of 
his speech at Konigsberg in 1910. It may be that 
by this time (1912) he had taken the admonition to 
heart, for it will be noticed that, though we have 
the customary reference to Frederick of Hohen- 
zollern and the glorification of his ancestors, and 
also the marks of special favor and trust in the 
Brandenburgers, we miss any mention of the 
theory of divine right. 

La Fontaine has said that it is difficult to please 
every one and his father. The Emperor must have 
felt this when he learned that certain of his sub- 
jects, nevertheless, resented that closing part of 
his speech which would seem to imply that the 
Franco-Prussian War was a sort of family affair 
through which the grateful Brandenburgers de- 
cided to present the imperial crown to their be- 
loved overlord. Through such an interpretation 

308 



i 9 i2] BRANDENBURG ONCE AGAIN 

the position and interests of Bavaria, for instance, 
became for Bavarians somewhat too incidental. 
If, then, foreign critics have drawn a distinction 
between Prussia and Germany, the distinction has, 
therefore, a certain warrant, since it seems to be 
made by the Emperor himself. The heir to the 
Bavarian crown took occasion to object in one of 
his speeches to the conception that the affiliated 
sovereigns are "vassals of the Emperor." That he 
should have gone so far would indicate that, in his 
mind at least, there was a disposition to make them 
so. He was even more emphatic in a speech de- 
livered in May, 1900, before the Association for 
the Furtherance of Inland Navigation in Bavaria. 
"I do not see," he said, "why we, if we belong to 
the German Empire should not enjoy precisely 
the same rights and privileges as North Germany, 
for the German Empire was welded together just 
as much through Bavarian blood as through the 
blood of any other German stock; and for that 
reason we do not wish to be regarded as minor 
brothers, but as brothers with full rights and 
privileges." So, too, it is said that the King of 
Wurtemberg left the Emperor's side in anger and 
withdrew from the army manoeuvres in 1894. It 
will be plain to any one who reads the Emperor's 
speeches that very few of them are made in South 
Germany. Munich, Leipzig, and Stuttgart have 
been visited by him less frequently than certain 
foreign capitals. This is due in part, no doubt, 
to the fact that the reigning sovereigns of these 
capitals do not wish to see a greater at their side. 
But it is likewise true that in most of these dis- 

309 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

tricts the Emperor's reception at the hands of the 
populace would be far less warm than that ac- 
corded to him at Breslau and Berlin; for, if the 
Emperor is warranted in expecting a particular 
loyalty from his Prussians and Brandenburgers, so, 
too, are the hereditary rulers of Bavaria, Saxony, 
and Wiirtemberg warranted in expecting a partic- 
ular recognition at home, which must necessarily 
be deducted from the possible tribute which can be 
paid the Emperor, who is likewise a rival King and 
King of a province which has not always enjoyed 
the favorable consideration of South Germans. 

It was on this day, May 30, five hundred years 
before that the Burgrave Frederick VI of Hohen- 
zollern, the later Elector Frederick I., entered the 
fortified place of Brandenburg, on the Havel. In 
commemoration of this fact, a fountain and an 
equestrian statue of the Elector by Professor Man- 
zel were dedicated. The church of St. Catherine 
had likewise been restored and was rededicated 
on this day. After the unveiling, the Emperor 
proceeded to the old town hall, where he in- 
scribed his name in the city's Golden Book, and 
after he had accepted the drink of honor offered 
him by the burgomaster, he delivered the follow- 
ing address: 

I am deeply grateful to the city of Brandenburg 
for having thought of inviting me to its celebra- 
tion. It has been a celebration whose importance 
extends far beyond the walls of Brandenburg, and 
I rejoice that the Brandenburgers should have 

310 






i 9 i2] BRANDENBURG ONCE AGAIN 

wished to have their Elector and Margrave with 
them, just as it goes without saying that the 
Elector is pleased when he can tarry among his 
Brandenburgers. The changes of history which 
have swept over the German Fatherland have 
called forth and laid tasks upon many a dynasty, 
and finally it was the dynasty of my ancestors who 
first succeeded after many difficulties in laying the 
corner-stone for the great work and at last in 
building up the work itself — the establishment of 
German unity on a Brandenburger basis and un- 
der the leadership of Prussia. We must not forget 
that it must have been a difficult decision for the 
ruler of the land in those days and the later Elector 
to undertake the task of coming into this country 
and of bringing it back again to a flourishing con- 
dition. For he came from the sunny south, which 
had progressed in culture and whose knighthood 
at that time was also in its fullest flower of cultural 
development. We have already learned from 
reliable lips what a frightful situation existed at 
that time in the unhappy mark. And if he was 
successful in re-establishing order little by little 
and in sowing the seeds for new flowers, never- 
theless the mark had to pass through many 
grievous storms and became the arena of foreign 
powers and foreign lords. But at last the Great 
Elector and the great King drove away the for- 

311 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [May 

eigners once for all and won for the people of the 
mark and of Prussia the right to live for them- 
selves without having to see the products of their 
industry and labor fall a prey to the caprices of 
strangers. And when at last, through the help of 
God, the Prussian edifice was completed and my 
grandfather, in the long period of peace, had 
sharpened the sword which he must needs have 
in order to achieve German union, then for a 
second time, on a grander scale, the same work was 
accomplished which had previously been accom- 
plished for the mark. And he succeeded in finally 
forbidding the strangers to trample upon our fields 
and to destroy our labor for the mere sake of fol- 
lowing their own interests. The German Empire 
and the German crown rest upon a Brandenburg 
basis and a Prussian foundation. On that account 
we wish on this day to remember the people of 
the mark and of Brandenburg and not least the 
Brandenburgers who in 1870 risked their lives and 
all that was near and dear to them in order to 
win the imperial crown for the old master. As 
long as a Hohenzollern lives and as long as there 
are Brandenburgers both of them will remember 
Constantine Alvensleben, Vionville, and the Third 
Corps.* This was the old Brandenburger loyalty 

*Constantine Alvensleben, commander of the Third (Brandenburg) 
Army Corps, played an important part in the battle of Vionville, on 

312 



i 9 i2] HAULING DOWN THE FLAG 

which had been preserved through all the centuries, 
and I hope that this loyalty may be the possession 
of the coming generations of the city of Branden- 
burg. And I drink this cup in the hope that this 
loyalty may never be extinguished. 



HAULING DOWN THE FLAG 

Hamburg, June 18, 1912 

As usual, the Emperor was present at the meet- 
ing of the North German Regatta Association. 
Since 1897 he had been absent but once. Certain 
references in his address here doubtless refer back 
to the outcome of events at Agadir. It is difficult 
to tell whether or not he is on the defensive. 
Whatever his qualities or defects, it cannot properly 
be said that he has often or indeed ever publicly 
weakened in a position which he had once taken. 
He has, however, occasionally shifted his ground. 
Criticism, instead of giving him pause, has usually 
had the effect of angering him and of immediately 
drawing his fire upon his critics. So, in regard to 
the criticism of his agrarian policy on the part of 
the Prussian land-owning nobility, he replied that 
"opposition on the part of the Prussian nobility 
is monstrous" [ein Unding]. As the opposition 
had been directed solely against certain policies 
and not against him personally, his statement im- 
plies that he expected the Prussian nobility to 

the 16th of August, 1870. He checked the French army operating 
from Metz and held it until the arrival of reinforcements. 

313 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

support him in all of his positions. He expected 
personal loyalty. As some of his opponents were 
members of the Prussian Landtag, it is difficult to 
see what would become of the idea of representa- 
tive government in case the representatives of the 
people waived their opinions and those of their 
constituents in his favor. Some of the sharpest 
criticism which the Emperor incurred was that 
which followed the incidents at Tangier in 1905 
and at Agadir in 191 1. In both cases what may be 
called the war party showed great resentment, and 
certain of the criticisms made by them seem to 
indicate that war, to them, was a consummation 
devoutly to be wished, and the failure to make war 
at these opportunities was looked upon as a de- 
feat. The Emperor seems here to be insisting 
upon the fact that the flag has not been dishonored. 



Your Magnificence will certainly allow me to 
thank you for the address, which glowed with 
flaming patriotism and which was delivered with 
such a sweep of oratory that, I am convinced, 
it carried away all those here assembled. We saw 
from the sketch which your Magnificence has 
given us how in all centuries the history of our 
empire and of our people, although in general 
attached to the Continent, nevertheless always 
stood in close relationship with the water and the 
sea and that it has always been more or less in- 
fluenced by it. But as you have shown, we formerly 

314 



1912] HAULING DOWN THE FLAG 

failed in gathering together our strength. The 
flourishing of the Hansa, interesting and beautiful, 
and for a time powerful as it was, had to pass away, 
because it lacked the support of the imperial 
power. Through the founding of the empire under 
my grandfather all things were changed, and now 
the German merchant can go his way peacefully, 
not under a foreign but under his own flag; he 
can exercise all his capacities and be sure that, 
when it is necessary, the protection of the empire 
will stand behind him. That is only possible 
when all our powers are united under our German 
flag. But, as you all know, gentlemen, the flag 
must wave in honor; and it dare not lightly 
spread its folds to the wind nor be lightly set up 
where we are not sure of being able to defend it. 
You will understand why I have acted with this 
reserve in extending the reach of the German flag 
where many perhaps would have desired and longed 
to see it. I have allowed myself to be guided 
by an old Hanseatic proverb which stands in 
significant letters over the town hall at Liibeck: 
"The little flag is easily tied to the staff", but it is 
difficult to haul it down with honor.' ' Now, 
gentlemen, I believe that I can say without fear 
of contradiction that up to the present no one has 
ever dared offer an indignity to our flag so long as 
I have been reigning. I will promise and hold to 

315 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Oct. 

it that wherever you go ahead there my flag shall 
follow you. That is true in great as in little things. 
Every man binds his flag to the staff in the morn- 
ing and hopes to conquer. Not every one is suc- 
cessful. In spite of that, we rejoice that on this 
day of the Elbe regatta not only German but 
also many boats of related and friendly peoples 
are present and make the scene a picturesque one. 
Therefore we rejoice, and again I whole-heartedly 
express the hope that sailing and water sport on 
the Elbe and on the Baltic, on the inland lakes as 
on the sea, may grow and prosper. We, however, 
who have gathered here under the flag of Hamburg, 
on the beautiful ship of the Hamburg-American 
Line, raise our glasses and drink to the health of 
the city of Hamburg and all seamen here as- 
sembled. The city of Hamburg — Hurrah ! Hur- 
rah ! Hurrah ! 



ACCIDENT TO A ZEPPELIN 

Bonn, October 17, 1913 

Nineteen hundred and thirteen was a jubilee 
year in the history both of Germany and in the 
Emperor's reign. In the first place, it was the 
one-hundredth anniversary of the famous bat- 
tle of the nations at Leipzig, which marked the 
turning of the tide in the fortunes of Napoleon. 
On innumerable occasions the Emperor, in the 

316 



1913] ACCIDENT TO A ZEPPELIN 

speeches already printed, has referred to this crisis 
in the affairs of Germany; he was, curiously enough, 
not to make the address on this famous occasion, 
for the celebration was to take place at Leipzig and 
the addresses were made by Doctor Clemens and 
by the King of Saxony. The journals noted that 
during the address of Doctor Clemens the Em- 
peror, who was present, showed no enthusiasm and 
looked bored. The joyous occasion had been 
clouded by the unfortunate accident to the naval 
Zeppelin L-2 on the previous day. As the Em- 
peror had succeeded to the throne on the fifteenth 
of June, 1888, the year marked also the comple- 
tion of twenty-five years of his reign, and the week 
of June 15 had been one of continual celebration 
and many speeches. He issued innumerable par- 
dons and conferred many titles and decorations, 
among them the title of general on his Chancel- 
lor, Von Bethmann-Hollweg. His many speeches 
were, however, for the most part, merely ac- 
ceptances of congratulations and, aside from the 
renewed expression of his hope to maintain peace, 
are not particularly significant to the student. 
The sense of increased tension is evident every- 
where and seems to have reacted upon him, as he 
does not express himself with his former en- 
thusiasm. He repeats his old themes, the neces- 
sity of disregarding party divisions and in partic- 
ular the need of holding fast to religious ideals and 
of moral regeneration. 

On the seventeenth of October, 1913, on the eve 
of the great national celebration, the naval Zep- 
pelin L-2, shortly after starting on a flight from 

317 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

Johannisthal to Hamburg, met with a most dis- 
tressing accident. An explosion occurred, the bal- 
loon caught fire and burst, and the gondola fell 
with its crew. The twenty-seven officers and men 
were killed. From Bonn the Emperor issued the 
following statement. The text, as well as that of 
the speech of June 23, 1914, is taken from the 
Berliner Tageblatt. 

Again fate has laid a heavy hand upon my navy. 
The dirigible L-2 was destroyed by an explosion, 
and nearly thirty brave men, among them many 
of the ablest in developing this new species of war- 
craft, lost their lives. Their death in the service 
of the Fatherland will be honorably remembered 
by me and the entire German people. Our very 
deepest sympathy goes out to their relatives. But 
grief over what has happened will only spur us on 
to renewed efforts to develop this so important 
aerial weapon into a reliable engine of war. 

William, I. R. 



WE GERMANS FEAR GOD, NOTHING ELSE 

Hamburg, June 23, 1914 

The following speech is, we believe, the last one 
delivered by the Emperor before the murder of 
the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (June 28), which 
precipitated the war. True to his custom, the Em- 
peror is again at Hamburg at the regatta which 

318 



i 9 i 4 ] WE GERMANS FEAR GOD 

usually marks the beginning of his summer holi- 
day. This year his yacht Meteor was to win the 
Hamburg prize. The banquet at which he or- 
dinarily delivered his address was to be held on 
board the Victoria Luise, and the president of the 
association, Doctor Schroder, who made the ad- 
dress preceding the Emperor's, alluded to the 
disaster to the Z-i and the destruction of that 
boat off Heligoland. He followed it with a dis- 
cussion of Germany's progress in naval and aerial 
development. The Emperor answers with his 
usual compliments to Hamburg. His naval policy 
and his policy of expansion had profited the sea- 
port towns particularly, and he was always a wel- 
come guest. In the year of his jubilee, 1913, the 
Hamburg-American Line had done him the honor 
to name one of their boats the Imperator, and 
this year they had launched the great thirty- 
thousand-ton Bismarck. If his speech on this oc- 
casion shows nothing particularly new, one thing 
at least is interesting from the change which he 
introduces in Bismarck's famous statement. The 
Emperor himself has quoted it previously (April 
24, 1901): "We Germans fear God, nothing else 
in the world." Here it seems to have in it a little 
more of defiance and possibly of challenge: "We 
Germans fear God and absolutely nobody and 
nothing else in the world." 

May your Magnificence allow me to express 
my thanks for your friendly words and for the 
picture of the past progress of important phases of 

319 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June 

our national development! I would like to in- 
clude in my expression of thanks a heartfelt ap- 
preciation of the delightful reception which this 
year, as in other years, was accorded me by the 
population of the city of Hamburg. It was 
noticeable in the oldest citizen and in the youngest 
child. I have been able to see how the hearty and 
close relationship between Hamburg citizens and 
myself has gradually become traditional, for it 
passes on from generation to generation. Your 
Magnificence, has spoken of the sources which 
provide us with the material for the Fatherland's 
activity on the seas and has cited some brilliant 
examples in this line. Although I, too, have noted 
with pleasure how sport has developed greatly, 
I would, nevertheless, like to call attention to the 
fact that in one respect I believe our nation is 
following the right path. We are right in at- 
tempting to bring the mass to a higher level of 
development rather than to scoop out isolated 
great performances from a generally lowered 
average. The water sports which we foster and 
which have again brought us together here, have 
also seen a new yacht appear under my flag, and 
it has been successful in winning the Hamburg 
state prize, for which honor I am joyously grateful. 
The yacht is the creation of a German Hanseatic 
shipbuilder and was built by experienced hands 

320 



i 9 i 4 ] WE GERMANS FEAR GOD 

at the well-known wharves of Mr. Krupp, on the 
water-front. This, too, is an indication of the de- 
velopment of our technical skill, which was possible 
only in the long period of peace which was granted 
us after the stirring years of military prowess. 
It is a symbol of peace which the merchant, the 
banker, the ship-owner needs in order to develop, 
and which they have used each in his own calling 
to such magnificent effect. I am sure I represent 
the feelings of all those assembled here on this 
beautiful and well-known ship of the Hamburg- 
American Line when I thank that line particu- 
larly for the great day they recently prepared for 
us. As another symbol of the long period of peace, 
a few days ago the Bismarck left its stocks. It is 
the greatest vessel now afloat. We all of us know 
very well that this was no ordinary launching, 
both because of the size of the ship and because, 
of the impression and attitude of the spectators. 
The Hamburg-American Line, through the build- 
ing of this vessel, gave us the occasion for a great 
national festival at the moment when the thirty 
thousand tons glided down into the water. It was 
as if all the dross had been taken out of the lives 
of those of us who were present, and even from the 
lives of all other Germans, as we may judge from 
the expressions which come to us from all parts of 
the country. Envy, pettiness, daily conflicts dis- 

321 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [June, 1914 

appeared. All hearts beat higher and remembered 
the great time and the great men who wrought 
in it and thought of the Great Emperor and of 
his Iron Chancellor. It is for us to administer 
further the legacy that has come down to us. Just 
as in our individual efforts and in our sports we 
summon up and exert all our powers to reach our 
goal, so too we must do the same for our Father- 
land. We must be in a position to take to heart 
and to exemplify practically one of the finest 
utterances coined by the Iron Chancellor. We 
must so live and act that we shall at all times 
say with him: "We Germans fear God and ab- 
solutely nobody and nothing else in the world." 
With this feeling I raise my glass and ask you to 
drink with me to the city of Hamburg, the Regatta 
Association, and the Hamburg-American Line — 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 



322 



IX 

AT THE OUTBREAK OF 
THE WAR 

As there is no official edition of the Emperor's 
recent addresses, the following five speeches and 
decrees are taken from the Frankfurter Zeitung. 

FORCING THE SWORD INTO HIS HAND 

Berlin, July 31, 1914 

On the 31st of July the Emperor made the fol- 
lowing address from the balcony of the Royal Pal- 
ace in Berlin: 

A grievous situation has come upon Germany. 
Envious nations on all sides are forcing us to 
justified defense. They are forcing the sword into 
my hand. If my attempts are not successful in 
bringing our opponents to their senses and in 
keeping peace at the eleventh hour, I hope that 
with God's help we may so use the sword that we 
may be able to sheathe it again with honor. Enor- 
mous sacrifices in life and property would be 
demanded from the German people by a war; 
but we would show the enemy what it means to 

323 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

attack Germany. And now I bid you go to the 
church, bow down before God and ask His help 
for our brave army. 

AN END OF PARTIES 

Berlin, August i, 1914 

After the order of mobilization, the Emperor 
made the following brief speech from the window 
of the Royal Palace: 

If we must have war, all parties cease. We are 
only German brothers. In times of peace this or 
that party has attacked me; I forgive them now 
with all my heart. If our neighbors are not satis- 
fied to leave us in peace, then we hope and pray 
that our good German sword will come out of the 
struggle victorious. 

OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

Berlin, August 4, 1914 

The Emperor opened the special session of the 
Reichstag with the following address : 

Honored Gentlemen: 

At a time big with consequences I have as- 
sembled the elected representatives of the German 
people about me. For nearly half a century we 
have been allowed to follow the ways of peace. 
The attempts to attribute to Germany warlike in- 

324 



1914] OPENING OF THE REICHSTAG 

tentions and to hedge in her position in the world 
have often sorely tried the patience of my peo- 
ple. Undeterred, my government has pursued the 
development of our moral, spiritual, and economic 
strength as its highest aim, with all frankness, even 
under provocative circumstances ! The world has 
been witness that during the last years, under all 
pressure and confusion, we have stood in the first 
rank in saving the nations of Europe from a war 
between the great powers. The most serious 
dangers to which the events in the Balkans had 
given rise seemed to have been overcome — then 
suddenly an abyss was opened through the mur- 
der of my friend the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 
My lofty ally, the Emperor and King Franz 
Joseph, was forced to take up arms to defend the 
security of his empire against dangerous machina- 
tions from a neighboring state. The Russian em- 
pire stepped in the way of the allied monarchy 
following out her just interests. Not only our 
duty as ally calls us to the side of Austria-Hungary, 
but it is our great task to protect our own position 
and the old community of culture between the 
two empires against the attack of hostile forces. 
With a heavy heart I have had to mobilize the 
army against a neighbor with whom it had fought 
side by side on many a battle-field. With un- 
feigned sorrow I saw broken a friendship which had 

325 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

been faithfully preserved by Germany. The im- 
perial Russian Government, yielding to the pres- 
sure of an insatiable nationalism, has taken sides 
for a state which through its sanctioning of 
criminal attacks has brought about the evils of 
this war. That France, too, should have taken 
sides with our enemy could not surprise us; too 
often have our attempts to come to friendlier 
relationships with the French Republic failed 
because of her old hopes and old resentments. 

Honored Gentlemen, what human insight and 
power could do to equip a people for these utter- 
most decisions has been done with your patriotic 
assistance. The hostility which has been making 
itself felt in the east and in the west for a long 
time past has now broken out in bright flame. 
The present situation is not the result of passing 
conflicts of interests or of diplomatic conjunctions; 
it is the result of an ill will which has been active 
for many years against the power and the pros- 
perity of the German Empire. 

No lust of conquest drives us on; we are inspired 
by the unalterable will to protect the place in 
which God has set us for ourselves and all coming 
generations. From the documents which have 
been submitted to you, you will see how my 
government and especially my Chancellor have 
endeavored even to the last moment to stave off 

326 



1914] TO THE ARMY AND NAVY 

the inevitable. In a defensive war that has been 
forced upon us, with a clear conscience and a 
clean hand we take up the sword. I issue my call 
to the peoples and stocks of the German Empire, 
that with their united strength they may stand 
like brothers with our allies in order to defend 
what we have created through the works of peace. 
Following the example of our fathers, staunch 
and true, earnest and knightly, humble before 
God, but with the joy of battle in the face of the 
enemy, we trust in the Almighty to strengthen 
our defense and guide us to good issue. Honored 
Gentlemen, the German people gathered about 
their princes and leaders are to-day looking to 
you. Come to your decisions quickly and unan- 
imously. Such is my most earnest wish. 

TO THE ARMY AND NAVY 

Berlin, August 6, 1914 

On this date the following statement was issued 
to the army and navy: 

After forty-three years of peace, I call all the 
available forces to arms. We must defend our 
most sacred possessions, the Fatherland, and our 
own hearths, against ruthless attack. Enemies 
round about us ! That is the characteristic of the 
situation. We must expect a great conflict and 
to make great sacrifices. I have confidence that 

327 



THE GERMAN EMPEROR [Aug. 

the old warlike spirit still lives in the German 
people, that powerful warlike spirit which attacks 
the enemy wherever found and at whatever cost 
and which has always been the fear and terror of 
our enemies. I have confidence in you, you Ger- 
man soldiers. In every one of you there lives the 
eager, unconquerable will to triumph. Every one 
of you knows how to die like a hero if need be. 
Think of our great and glorious past. Remember 
that you are Germans. God help us. 

(Signed) William, I. R. 

Berlin, August 6, 1914. 

PROCLAMATION TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE 

Berlin, August 6, 1914 

The following proclamation was issued on the 
evening of this date: 

To the German People: 

Since the founding of the empire, for forty-three 
years it has been the earnest aim of my ancestors 
and myself to maintain peace with the world and 
to further our powerful advance in peace. But 
our opponents envy us the fruit of our labors. 
In the consciousness of our responsibility and our 
strength, we must endure overt and covert hostility 
from east and west and from across the sea. But 
now they wish to humble us. They demand that 

328 



1914] PROCLAMATION 

with folded arms we should watch our enemies 
prepare themselves for an underhand attack. 
They do not wish to allow us in loyal determina- 
tion to stand by our ally, who is fighting for his 
position as a great power and with whose humilia- 
tion our own power and honor will also be lost. So 
the sword must decide ! The enemy surprises us 
while we are entirely at peace. Therefore, to 
arms ! Any wavering, any hesitation would be 
treachery to the Fatherland. We must fight for 
the existence or non-existence of our empire, which 
our fathers lately founded for themselves; for 
the existence or non-existence of German power 
and German life. We shall fight to the last breath 
of man and horse, and we shall continue this con- 
flict against a world of enemies. Germany has 
never yet been conquered as long as she was united. 
Go forward with God, who will be with us as He 
was with our fathers. 

(Signed) William, I. R. 

Berlin, August 6, 1914. 



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